The Twins-Who-Lived
by anonwriter64
Summary: On July 31st, 1980, James and Lily gave birth to twins, Harry and Alexander. When Voldemort attacks and they are both deemed the boys-who-lived, they grow up with great parents and a crazy amount of fame. Powerful!Harry WBWL (kinda) Pordigy!Harry Also this is posted on Wattpad under the same name and same author.
1. Chapter 1

"I can't believe they're already 15 months old," Lily Potter said, slightly tipsy as she leaned over the table and looked lovingly at her husband James.

Lily, only at 21, already had two kids that she loved with all of her heart. Her firstborn, Harry, from the moment he was born, had the cutest little tuft of black hair on his head that only got more unruly as he continued to grow. The moment she saw him, she already loved him, but when she first saw that his eyes were the same beautiful shade of green as hers, she burst out crying. Then again, that was partially due to the fact that she was having contractions for the next child that would be born twenty-three minutes later.

When Alexander was born, her first reaction was to scream out in pain, as he broke her tailbone. He was definitely a bigger baby than Harry, but she loved him just as much despite the pain he caused her. He, surprisingly enough, didn't have any hair on his head, but he did have his father's warm brown eyes that melted her heart.

Since the moment they were born, they were a happy family. Lily and James had never gotten along better than they had in the first year of their children's birth, and it didn't change at all when Dumbledore sent them into hiding.

James, who had always been accustomed to having a large home, was uncomfortable at first being cramped into the small wooden home just a few kilometres from Potter Manor, which he had grown up in. Lily, on the other hand, was used to to the size of their new home and appreciated how cute and homely it was. Eventually, Lily's love for the small home wore off on him, and he couldn't help but love it too.

When Dumbledore had set up the Fidelius Charm, it had been a very hard decision for James and Lily to choose Peter over Sirius, but they knew it was the safer option. Who would ever suspect Peter as the secret keeper? Somewhere in James' heart, he felt immensely guilty for not considering Remus and even suspecting him as the spy, but he knew it was inevitable due to what he has and where the rest of his kind was aligned with. Besides, he had always trusted Dumbledore and Dumbledore was the one who suggested he might be a spy in the first place. James trusted Dumbledore so who was he to doubt him?

"I love both of them so much," James said emotionally, clearly more drunk than Lily. " I just hate that they're at risk because of Voldemort. I hate that we can't do anything about it and that we can't do more to protect him."

Lily looked at her husband reverently, loving him for how much he cared for their children and herself. "It's okay, James. It'll all be okay once this war is over. I just hope it won't be too far from now that this hell ends for us."

James nodded, pursing his lips as he glared at the ground. He repeated, "You're right, it'll all be over soon."

Just as these words left his mouth, awful-sounding alarms, like cats howling at something attacking them, went off. James and Lily's eyes instantly met, as the bartender announced, "There's been a sighting! He-who-must-not-be-named is here!"

An hour earlier, all was peaceful in Godric's Hollow as Peter Pettigrew babysat the Potter twins.

Pettigrew sat next to the boy's cribs and muttered, "I'm so sorry, James and Lily," before casting a Patronus and saying, "My Lord, it's time. The parents are away at dinner and it's just me and the twins."

The rat Patronus scampered away as Peter looked sadly towards the twins. Suddenly, two cracking noises went off and Peter flinched. The smaller of the twins, Harry, looked at him sadly while Alex slept soundly.

"I'm sorry, I'm just protecting Alice and I don't know how else to do it," Peter said to Harry, who seemed to understand everything he said. The bright green eyes met Peter's eyes, before looking down and staring at the floor, almost as if accepting his fate.

Peter stood up and walked to the front door to meet his master and he could hear a conversation between his master and the unmistakable voice of Severus Snape. "Which child is the one of the prophecy?" "I believe the first born, that's who I will kill first." "Ok, well I will see you at the celebration afterwards, my Lord." "Thank you for aiding me with this, Severus. You will be rewarded greatly tonight." "Thank you, my lord." Another cracking noise went out as Severus disapparated away.

The front door creaked open, revealing the cloaked figure of Lord Voldemort. Peter got down on his knee and bowed, saying, "My lord, they are upstairs in the bedroom."

"You are dismissed, Pettigrew. Remember the plan for tomorrow." Voldemort spoke coldly, not even sparing a look to his follower as he strode past him purposefully.

"Yes, my lord," Peter said respectfully before walking outside of the apparition wards and disappearing with a crack.

Voldemort walked towards the twin's bedroom without a second thought and walked in before looking down at the two children in front of him. One was glaring at him and sitting in front of his brother while the other was sound asleep.

An unsettling chuckle rang out through the room at the small child as he knelt down. "What beautiful green eyes you have. You must be Harry."

Harry looked at Voldemort uneasily and watched as alarms went off in the town and Voldemort's eyes snapped to the source of them. He turned back to the boy and said, "I can sense that you have great magical potential, I'm sorry that we didn't meet under different terms because I would've taken you in and raised you myself."

Voldemort took out his wand and without missing a beat, pointed it at the infant and muttered, "Avada Kedavra."

An explosion ensued as green light flashed throughout the room. The spell seemed to crash into the young boy but almost immediately deflect off of him. It was a rare phenomenon, but since the spell bounced off of him, the raw power and killing intent of the spell had nowhere to go and dispersed throughout the room. This sent out jaggedy cracks of magic all throughout the room, causing huge cracks in the walls and in the process, even giving his brother a nasty scar across his midsection.

Seconds later, when the magic had finished its work, the room was left looking as if an earthquake had just occurred, a robe was left on the ground, and both twins had scars.

Roughly two minutes later, Lily could be found running into the house, yelling, "James! Get in here, you drunk idiot!"

Moments later, said 'drunk idiot', could be seen tripping and falling everywhere he went as he had had a few drinks too many on their date night out. Lily entered the twin's room and screamed as she saw the state it was in.

Hearing his wife scream sobered him up (a little bit), and he managed to make it up the stairs (barely). He gasped in shock as he saw the walls and dresser with huge, jagged cracks in them and their twins both unconscious in their crib.

"Oh my gosh!" Lily exclaimed, running over to the crib and checking the boy's pulses.

She sighed in relief and muttered, "Oh thank Merlin," before turning to James and confirming, "They're fine."

James slumped against a wall and let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding. "What do you think happened?"

"I'm not sure," Lily said, "But we should contact Dumbledore immediately."

"They've defeated Voldemort!" Dumbledore exclaimed happily, looking at the shaken couple with sparkling eyes.

Lily gave him a quizzical look, "Both of them? I thought there was only one child of the prophecy?"

Dumbledore sighed and explained, "Yes, you're correct. And only one of them did defeat him, but we can't be sure which one it was due to the fact that they both have magical scars."

James glared at the old man, knowing that he wasn't telling the full truth. "What aren't you telling us? Is there something you're hiding?"

"Well, my boy," Dumbledore started sheepishly as James glared even more harshly. "It appears as if Harry has a much higher than average magical core for one his age. I suspect that he may have been the one to defeat Voldemort."

The couple nodded and gave each other looks. It almost seemed as if they were having a conversation silently before Lily finally spoke, "Spread the news that it was both of them. We don't want one growing up in the shadows so we want them to be seen as equals."

Dumbledore smiled, before thanking the couple and leaving, telling everyone who asked him that Alexander and Harry Potter were the twins-who-lived.

Ten years later, Ginevra, Molly, and Ron Weasley all stood outside of Flourish and Blotts, preparing to go in to buy Ron's books for his first year at Hogwarts. Ginny was as red as her hair and Molly Weasley squealed in excitement and Ron looked at them weirdly before asking, "What is wrong with you two?"

"Don't you know, Ron?" Ginny asked, giving her brother a judgemental look. "Today, the Potters are going to be making an appearance in Flourish and Blotts!"

Ron's jaw dropped and he instantly went to fix his hair. "Why didn't you mention it earlier? I would have worn my nicer robes!"

The two continued to bicker as they walked inside, only to stop talking as they saw the two celebrities, centred on the slightly elevated floor in front of them, standing beside their parents as they spoke to the crowd in front of them.

Harry was the shorter of the two but was thinner and leaner than his brother. He had ruggedly handsome good looks, just like his father, but had his mother's high cheekbones and aristocratic face. His green eyes seemed to glow with power but his facial expressions showed that he was nothing more than bored.

His brother, on the other hand, looked cheery and friendly. He had ruffled brownish-reddish hair and deep brown eyes that seemed to convey that he was a friendly person. His mother finished speaking and handed him the wand and he pressed it to his neck, allowing the sonorous charm to be applied to him. He began to speak about how much he appreciated all their fans and how he couldn't wait for his first year at Hogwarts.

All in all, just about everyone knew that Harry and Alexander Potter were bound to be the biggest heart throbs that Hogwarts had ever seen.

Thanks so much for reading! Summer just started so I'm going to be writing a lot more and I'm excited to get this story started!

Please vote, comment and let me know what you think so far, and again, thanks for reading!


	2. Chapter 2

Haha, so I completely abandoned this story. Started at the end of June and now it's November. I probably won't be super motivated to continue this, but I'm kind of just in a mood for writing right now, so we'll see how it goes ( : 

"Ok, boys," Lily started, speaking into their small family huddle. "I know you two might be feeling a lot of pressure, but I want you to forget about it and do your best to have as much fun as possible! We believe that you two will do your best!"

The family huddle of four was situated in a busy and crowded Diagon Alley. They were huddled because if they weren't, people would listen in or make a huge deal about them being there. There were reporters, of course, looking around for them, but they hadn't had any luck in spotting them yet.

"And even if you don't do your best, just make sure you have fun," James said with a wink. Lily slapped his arm but was smiling at her husband who was as cheerful as ever.

Alexander smiled and looked at his parents, drinking in the happiness of being with his for the last time in six months. He was excited to go to Hogwarts but nervous to be separated from his parents, although he would never admit it out loud.

James couldn't believe that so much time had passed, and he was finally sending his only kids off to school. He was incredibly excited to see what challenges his kids would face and what adventures they would have. Knowing them, Harry would do better with grades but Alexander would be friends with pretty much everyone. He reassured his sons, "Just know, no matter what house you end up in, we're completely supportive and we love you. Don't feel like you have to be in Gryffindor."

Harry smirked, but inside he was beaming. He tended to not show emotion as much as his brother, but that didn't mean that he didn't care any less. Although, he was definitely less nervous about going away than Alexander was.

"Okay, well we should probably say hello to the press," Lily said with a slight eye roll. The family nodded before standing up straight and taking a step back from each other.

Almost immediately they heard a peppy sounding, "Oh, there you are!" and the clicking of high heels and a curly haired blonde ran up to them. She grinned and asked, "Hello, my name is Rita Skeeter and I'm a reporter for the Daily Prophet! Would you mind answering some questions for us?"

Harry sighed inaudibly as his mother smiled politely and said, "Of course, but only a few minutes as the boys will need to get going soon."

"Thank you so much! First off, how do you boys feel about heading off to Hogwarts?" She asked in her high-pitched tone.

A crowd began to grow around the family and reporter as Alexander stepped up to answer, as he usually did during interviews due to Harry's more introverted nature. "We're both very excited, and are looking forward to starting learning magic!"

Rita blinked, clearly a small-bit let down at the very generic answer. "What house are you hoping to get into?"

"I think I'm a shoo-in for Gryffindor, but if not Hufflepuff would probably be my second choice," Alex answered thoughtfully, before looking over at his brother questioningly. Many girls in the crowd were watching the twins closely, many already dreaming about their futures with one or the other.

Harry was unimpressed but reluctantly answered, "Gryffindor would be fine, I guess. I don't really care honestly."

James smirked at his son's nonchalant manner, not really knowing where he got it from considering how extroverted and energetic he and his wife were. It was always interesting seeing how similar his eldest son looked compared to him, and yet they acted completely different.

"Harry, what can you tell us about yourself? We hardly ever get to speak to you in interviews, and the readers have been dying to get to know something about you." Rita said eagerly, grasping onto the boy of few words, trying to get as much out of him as she could.

Harry looked very uncomfortable, but only those in his family could tell. They knew him so well that they saw the trapped look in his eyes, but they knew he would have to get passed his introversion at some point and speak to the press. He glanced at his family for help, but they offered no security. He let a deep breath out, which made Rita's evil grin increase tenfold. She would finally get the content her reader's wanted. He started, "What do you want to know?"

Rita had an evil glint in her eyes that Lily and James recognized immediately. "What do you look for in women, Harry? The young women of the wizarding world are dying to know," She drawled, looking at the now clearly uncomfortable boy in front of her.

Instead of getting her answer, however, Lily quickly stepped in front of her son, as if protecting him. "Those are absurd questions to be asking! He's only eleven, for Merlin's sake! Why would you ask such a thing?"

Rita backed off, her leeway into the Potter's personal life disappeared before she even got to take advantage of it. "I'm so sorry, Mrs. Potter, I only wanted to feed the need for information that the women around Europe have been wondering."

Lily took a deep breath, clearly trying to calm herself. She definitely did not want to make a scene in front of all her son's future classmates. Besides, it wasn't their day to be important. Every single kid on the platform was about to be sent away from their parents for five months! "Well, if you dont mind, Miss Skeeter, I'd very much like to say goodbye to my children before they leave. So if you don't mind, we'll be going now."

The reporter pursed her lips, but willingly backed off. "Of course, I wish the two of you the best at Hogwarts." She nodded in acknowledgement to the family, before walking away and leaving the platform.

The crowd dissipated slowly around them, and the first train whistle went the five-minute warning.

"We'd better get going," Alexander said, turning towards the train. "If we want to get a good seat, y'know?"

Lily nodded, but James spoke first. "Well, forget about Rita Skeeter, boys. I'm sure you boys will love Hogwarts just as much as we did, but make sure you have fun. Don't spend all your time on your studies. Not until your fifth year at least.:

"Agreed," Lily started. "Remember that we love you, and make sure you take care of yourselves! If you get into any trouble, I'll be hearing about it, and no matter how bad you think their punishment is, mine will be worse." She gave a warning look, which cowed Alex immediately but made Harry smirk.

They hugged quickly and exchanged goodbyes, the boys leaving to get on the train. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~' 

Alex and Harry sat in a train compartment alone, looking out of the window and waving at their parents as the train pulled out of the station. The moment their parents disappeared from the window, the boys turned to each other and let out a deep breath neither knew they were holding in.

"I can't believe we're finally going to Hogwarts," Alex said, staring ahead at the seat in front of him. He looked up to his brother and slowly began to grin.

Harry grinned back, in a rare show of emotion. Happiness filled his stunningly green eyes. He would finally be allowed to learn magic and excel at the one things he knew he would be good at.

For years, the boys had wanted nothing more than to begin to learn magic, Harry especially. They had been on brooms for as long as they could remember, both were naturally talented in the art of flying, but their parents had never allowed them to get even a training wand.

They wanted them to wait, and learn at the pace of others their age. Alex could understand this more than Harry could, but there was one key difference. Harry had a connection to magic. For as long as he could remember, magic spoke to him in a way that nothing else could. The moment he got on a broom, the magic, despite being such a small amount, sent tingles down his spine and gave him goosebumps. The adrenalyn gave him a rush and it was an amazing experience. Harry wanted more. He wanted to learn as much magic as he could. Not only for that euphoric feeling (although it was definitely a factor), but because he knew he needed to be extremely skilled for his future.

Lily and James had always had a suspicion that Voldemort wasn't really dead, that he was just hiding in the shadows and laying low, gaining strength until he could make a strong return. They had shared their concerns with their sons, and they understood the severity of the situation. They also understood, however begrudgingly, that they needed to hold off to learn magic or else they would find Hogwarts boring, and it would ruin the experience. They came to an agreement that once the boys were at Hogwarts, they could learn whatever they want (as long as it didn't go too far into the Dark Arts) at whatever pace they wanted, as long as they were happy and healthy.

James knew that there were light wizards and dark wizards, but that didn't necessarily mean that they were evil or good. He had explained this to Lily, who surprisingly already knew as she was a neutral wizard and it had all been explained to her by Severus when they were much younger. James had used a quick and simple diagnostic spell on his sons to discover whether they were light or dark (not that he would mind, either way, his own mother was a dark wizard despite being one of the kindest people he had ever known), and found that Alex had a pure light affinity and Harry had a neutral affinity.

Their affinities could easily change over time, depending on what kind of magic his children decided to learn during their studies at Hogwarts. James trusted Harry but believed that there was a chance that Harry would become a dark wizard. He would allow his son to take his own path when it comes to affinities, but he would not allow his son to join Voldemort, under any circumstances.

The door of their compartment slid open, breaking the peaceful silence that the brothers were basking in, even though they knew it wouldn't last.

They both turned to see a blond boy, clearly a pureblood, with perfectly coiffed hair and a perfectly placed smirk on his face, though it could definitely be mistaken as a sneer. "You two must be the Potter twins. My name is Draco Malfoy, although I'm sure you already knew that."

Harry suppressed a snort, but he knew exactly what was coming. Alex would almost definitely blow up at him if he made any derogatory remarks about them being beneath him because they were half-bloods.

Alex pretended to think for a moment before responding. "No, I don't believe I've heard the name before," Alex said, feigning ignorance as he revelled in the look of disbelief from the primped boy in front of them.

Draco straightened up even more if that was even possible, and he sneered, "Of course you haven't, I've heard you're just like your pompous father, ignorant and arrogant."

Harry's emotionless expression only changed slightly, as compared to his brother who immediately stood up and glared at the shorter boy in front of him. "Now that's not a way to forge connections, Malfoy. You wouldn't want your father to be on the bad side of my father in the Wizengamot, now would you?"

Draco paled slightly but didn't fall for the bluff. "Your father must be as ignorant as he seems if he would be willing to ruin political connections due to a conflict between his son. After all, he wouldn't want to lose the funding that comes directly from my father's pocket into the Auror training program, now would he?"

"But if your father did that, he would just lose connections as well, wouldn't he?" Alex fought back, not willing to fall for the trick that he had just tried to use on him just seconds earlier.

At this point, Harry was watching the conversation closely. He had never been one to pay too much attention to politics, but clearly, his father's training had paid off as Alex was an expert at the language of politicians.

It had been clear from the time that the boys were eight that Alex was the charismatic and social one. This disappointed their father a little bit, as he had wanted them to both be like him, but expected Harry to be more like him due to their similar appearances. But it could be reduced down to the fact that Harry had his mother's eyes, and he was much more like her, while Alex had his father's eyes, and had very similar behaviour. Lily appreciated that one of her sons was so much like her, especially because it would've been hell on earth if she had two little James' running around.

Although Harry was more similar to his mother, he wasn't a lot like her. He was a lot quieter and was a lot less impulsive and emotional than her. In a family full of incredibly emotional people, he was definitely the black sheep, but they had learned to love him despite their differences and some difficult childhood moments.

Draco huffed. He had come looking for the twins because his father had told him to forge a friendship with one of the twins, preferably Harry, the eldest. He was happy that it wasn't Alex that his father wanted him to be friends with because they were already having a disagreement and they had barely been speaking for two minutes. Harry, however, was completely silent. Draco could appreciate that.

While observing the older Potter, he could understand why his mother had made her comment earlier about how he was going to be a lady-killer when he grew up. Harry Potter was already quite the looker, even at eleven. He had rugged black hair and stunning green eyes, along with high cheekbones and a sharp jawline. He almost always had a pensieve look on his face, giving off intelligent vibes. He was your stereotypical hard-to-get guy who had a fan club, even though he wasn't aware.

Alexander Potter, on the other hand, had brownish-auburn hair and brown eyes. He a bit more baby fat on his cheeks than his brother, but it was clear that he was far from lazy. Not only was he taller than most boys his age, but you could tell just from his stature that he was oddly well-muscled for his age. Alex wasn't Draco's type, but even Draco couldn't deny that he was attractive.

"You are right about that, I suppose. I guess neither of us can begin a conflict without ruining something of our fathers. How about a truce?" Draco asked neutrally, offering a hand to the taller boy.

Alex eyed him skeptically, but ultimately nodded slightly and accepted the outreached hand. "Truce."

Both of the boys dropped their hands after a few seconds, and Alexander sat back down, and Draco decided to sit down next to Harry. He offered his hand to the silent Potter, who raised an eyebrow, but accepted.

Draco relaxed visibly quite a bit, though remaining on his guard towards the other two. Even the slip of a word could cause major problems. "What houses are you two looking to get into?"

Surprisingly enough, Harry answered first, "I think I'd be a good Ravenclaw or even a Slytherin. You?"

Draco gave him a curious but amused look, and answered, "Slytherin of course, my father would have my head if I didn't get in."

"Isn't that kind of awful?" Alex asked, genuinely concerned. "You parents should be proud of you, no matter what house you end up in. It's not like it's a huge deal anyway. It's only seven years, what difference does it make if you're in Hufflepuff or Slytherin?"

Looking out the window with sort of a shaded-over sombre look, Draco explained, "It's tradition. For centuries Malfoy's have been Slytherins. I wouldn't doubt it if my father decided to disown me if I got sorted into Slytherin. Besides, all my friends are in Slytherin..."

His sentence trailed off, but the boys understood what he was saying. For a long time, their father had drilled into their head the importance of getting into Slytherin, but their mother changed his mind about those stereotypes after a while. Once James got to know Severus, one of their mother's best friends who was a Slytherin, he changed his mind about the whole house mentality thing and learned from his mistakes. That change of heart definitely made Harry's life a whole lot easier.

"Screw him," Harry stated bluntly, staring straight at Draco with a serious look in his eye. Alex and Draco both had very surprised looks at his audacity. "I'm being serious, they're not very good parents if they prevent you from living your life the way you want to live it."

Draco looked down sadly, "It's not as simple as that. If I do that, my dad would be so awful. Though, I suppose he wouldn't mind if I was sorted into Ravenclaw. Just not Hufflepuff or Gryffindor." He shuddered at the idea of being sorted into Gryffindor.

Harry smiled genuinely, and Draco found his heart fluttering in his chest. He only had one thought on repeat in his mind, ' _Please be gay, please be gay, please be gay_ '.

Alex smiled lightly at the interaction of the two and was impressed at how well Harry got his words across. He always had some trouble expressing himself through words, but he had really shown improvement. Though, after Draco's last statement, Harry was clearly conflicted about what he wanted to encourage Draco to do. His heart was telling him to keep on going because he should be his own person, but his brain was telling him no because maybe his father was abusive, and if not, he didn't want to be the reason that a family breaks up.

"Just follow your gut," Harry spoke briefly, turning away from Draco and facing his brother. "What about you? What's the house you really want to get into?"

"Oh, I think I'm pretty much destined for Gryffindor. You would know, I'm basically the same as Dad, and he's about as Gryffindor as it gets," Alex laughed, but his words were completely true.

Draco observed the interaction between the two and wished he could have had a brother, or even a sibling at all. He couldn't help but agree with Alex on what he said, he was definitely a true-blood Gryffindor. He remembered that he had his friends waiting for him in their compartment, and cut in abruptly, "I'm sorry, I must get going, my friends are probably waiting for me. It was nice meeting you!"

The twins chimed in with a little, "You too," and then watched as Draco walked out of the compartment door, only to immediately run into someone else. All the brothers could hear was Draco sneer out, "Weasley," as he proceeded to walk away even faster.

Alex perked up immediately. The Weasleys were close family friends, and Ron Weasley was Alex's best friend. Harry, on the other hand, slumped, all the previous anticipation of who was standing at the door gone. Harry liked all of the Weasleys, save for Percy and Ron. He found Ron to be close-minded and obnoxious. He was unable to look past what was drilled into his head by his family, unlike his other siblings.

The door slid back open, and Ron walked in. He was tall, but not muscular like Alex, and he was skinny, but not lean like Harry, just lanky. He had dozens, perhaps even hundreds, of freckles all over his face and a very... average face. Ron was pretty forgettable, unlike the twins in the compartment that he was entering.

"Hey," Alex said, not being able to contain the grin at seeing his best friend for the first time since his birthday. "Why didn't you find us sooner?"

Ron smiled crookedly back at his friend, "Hey, mate. I've been looking for you guys pretty much the whole time, but I got caught up with Neville and this other girl who were looking for a toad. They both gave me this really sad look and I couldn't say no! Anyway, don't act like you weren't caught, what was _Malfoy_ doing in here?" He said Draco's name as if he was scum and disgusting.

Harry caught his breath, and couldn't help but feel offended. He was sure that Ron barely knew Draco, and was probably judging him off of what his siblings or parents had told him. He had little to no doubt that Ron was just as prejudiced about what the Malfoys were like as he was about every other matter.

Alex's eyes darted over to Harry, catching the small change in his demeanour, but brushed it off. He knew that Harry didn't like Ron very much. "He just wanted to introduce himself, why?"

Ron gave an expression of disbelief, as he began a rant. "Why?! Because the Malfoys are the worst of the worst in the wizarding world! They hate all half-bloods and muggleborns, and they treat everyone like they're below them! Not to mention they're completely filthy bloody rich! Don't even get me started!"

Harry resisted the very strong urge to roll his eyes, and decided to speak up, trying to hold back his sarcastic tone, "Well he seemed perfectly pleasant and even went out of his way to introduce himself and make a good impression."

"Well, yeah. He kind of has to, just because you guys are-" Ron cut himself off abruptly, with wide eyes.

Alex gave Ron a sharp look. " Because we're what, Ron?"

Ron didn't like speaking to the twins about their fame or money, because it made him extremely uncomfortable to remember who exactly he was talking to. He also didn't like speaking to them about it, because it was one of the only reasons that he put up with Harry as much as he did. He found the older twin unbearable, and hated him with a passion, even though he would never say it. "Well, because you guys are famous. He has to make a good impression because who wouldn't want to be friends with celebrities?"

This remark made Harry snort. He had always had a sneaking suspicious that that was the reason that Ron was friends with them. Ron's family was very poor, and Ron liked to mooch off of his friends quite a bit.

A sharp look was shot at the ravenette by the red head, and Alex looked unimpressed with Ron, but shrugged it off. "Yeah, whatever. How did Percy and Ginny's party end up going?"

The boys finally arrived at Hogwarts, and the sun was just setting. During the remainder of their train ride, Harry and Alex were introduced to the people that Ron had spoken of before; Neville Longbottom and Hermione Granger.

Harry thought Neville Longbottom was sweet. The boy stuttered and mumbled and it was so desperately obvious that he was nervous. Harry hated when people reacted like they did to the fact that they were the 'Boys-Who-Lived", but when it was Neville, Harry found it kind of cute.

On the other side, Hermione was gratingly annoying, but Harry could appreciate her thirst for knowledge. She wanted to know everything about the night when Voldemort came to their house, and honestly, neither of the brothers had an answer. Neither of them had been told much of anything about that night other than what the public knew.

Alex liked Neville, but hadn't thought much of him, and brushed him off as just another fan. On the other hand, he found Hermione Granger strangely intriguing, and could see a friendship developing in the future.

The two boys walked off of the train along with Hermione, who was still rattling off questions, Neville, and Ron. The group walked along the dark path ("They should really get some lamps or something") and the moment Harry heard the words, "Four to a boat!", Harry branched off from the group, looking to make some friends.

As he went into the crowd, he couldn't help but notice the increasing number of whispers and mutters. Harry rolled his eyes, and walked over to Draco. He couldn't help but think how weird it was that these people would fawn over him and his brother constantly but when they got the opportunity to become their friends they stuck to themselves. He took a deep breath and spoke, "Hey, Draco, mind if I join you?"

Draco's head snapped over, and his eyes widened in surprise as he saw Harry Potter standing next to him, staring at him with those beautiful green eyes of his. He smiled and said, "Of course!"

The conversation among to two boys eventually led to Draco introducing Harry to some of his friends; Crabbe, Goyle, Pansy Parkinson, and Blaise Zabini. Harry instantly warmed up to them (though not as much Crabbe and Goyle), and knew that he'd finally found some friends.

Harry was moving up and down on the balls of his feet in anticipation as he waited to enter Hogwarts. So far what he had seen was beautifully jaw-dropping, just as his parents had told him. He stood among the crowd, and for the first time in his life, seemed to just blend in with the crowd. Harry had never felt like he fit in more than he did right now.

The massive doors swung open.

That's a wrap! Hope you enjoyed! Comments are very much appreciated ! ( :


	3. Chapter 3

The moment the doors swung open, the eyes of the whole entire hall focused on the group of first years, many of them looking for the famous twins, some just observing the people that they might be sharing their dorm with that year.

Alex's eyes lit up in wonder as he looked around. Hearing about the great hall for years had truly not done it justice. It was stunning and he had never seen anything like it before in his life. He looked at the four banners hanging from the ceiling, as well as the large moon and hundreds of stars that matched the ones that he had seen only minutes before. Candles were floating and Alex couldn't help but wonder who charmed them.

Harry, on the other hand, showed only slight interest as he took in as much information as he could. Having not even started first year, he had no knowledge other than what was in the Potter library, but that seemed to give him at least the barest understanding of the charms that were used in the great hall. What he gathered from what he saw, the charms on the candles weren't very impressive, except for the fact that the spell was long-term. That was very impressive, something that Harry believed only someone like Flitwick or Dumbledore would have the magical capacity to pull off.

The twins were both so lost in thought that they barely even noticed that anything was even happening up until the loud singing of a hat interrupted their thoughts. This took Alex by surprise, but Harry had read Hogwarts: A History, and already knew about the hat that was charmed by Godric Gryffindor himself.

The song flew by quickly, and before they knew it, the sorting was started, with a breathy yell of, "Abbott, Hannah!"

Names flew by, and Harry couldn't help but be stunned that such a major moment in all of these student's history would be defined within a minute. Some names took up to five, but most took about 20-30 seconds, which surprised Harry immensely. How could a hat determine a person's personality traits in less than 30 seconds?

Before he knew it, "Potter, Alexander," was called. Alex sent Harry a strained look before walking about. As if they weren't already nervous enough, everyone went silent the moment that their last name was mentioned.

"Hm," the sorting hat began, "I figured you would be much more of a challenge. You are quite similar to your father, a very good lad, although a bit impetuous at times... Yes, very charismatic, perhaps a career in politics in your future?"

Alex smiled, "Yes, that's what I'm hoping for. Of course, if something else catches my interest, I would go for that as well. As long as I'm happy with what I'm doing, that's what matters."

The hat made a few noises of disgruntlement, muttering something about how that was such a Hufflepuff before saying, "Ok, I've made up my mind - GRYFFINDOR!"

Alex grinned as the table with the red and gold banner hanging above it burst out into ear-shattering cheers. Two twins started chanting, "We've got a Potter, we've got a Potter!", which lead to a lot of laughter across the hall, including a hearty chuckle from the headmaster.

It was already highly expected that Alex would be in Gryffindor, but now having it confirmed meant a lot than just having it theorized. Witch Weekly had covered many times what information they could gleam about the twins if they got into any of the houses. Then, they gave the most likely candidate for each twin, they guessed that Alex would be a Gryffindor and that Harry would be a Slytherin. The issue with the article was that the news outlets had a lot of information on Alex, but not Harry, so they really couldn't make a logical guess about what house he would end up in.

The next name called was, "Potter, Harry," and once again, the whole crowd went silent, save for a few mutterings between friends who were making guesses on what house he would be in.

Harry appeared confident as he walked up, and frankly, he was. He knew that no matter what house he ended up in, he would be fine. He would adapt, like he always did. He trusted the hat to make the decision.

He sat down, and the hat was placed on his head, and before he knew it, he could feel a presence poking around his head. "Ooh, natural occlumency shields... Interesting..."

That peaked Harry's interest, and he asked, "What do you mean? What's occlumency?"

"Occlumency is the study of shielding your mind from people who wish to intrude on it using Legilimency. Some people, although it is rare, are born with natural shields. I haven't had a person with natural occlumency shield in several decades, at least," The hat seemed very interested, and the unpleasant feeling became worse as it continued to look through his head. Harry tried his best to ignore it.

The hat spoke of how he would fit well into any of the house except for Hufflepuff, which made Harry snort. He wasn't the friendliest person in the world, that was for sure. After about two minutes of the hat going through his personality traits, he asked a question: "What do you want from your time here at Hogwarts?"

Harry immediately knew what answer would represent each house. The Gryffindor response would be to have adventures and explore the castle, the Hufflepuff response would be to grow and strengthen bonds with their friends, the Ravenclaw response would be to learn as much as they possibly can, and the Slytherin response would be to build political connections or to gain a place of leadership among the other purebloods.

His mind filtered through those options, and Harry decided to say, "I want to learn as much as possible, so I can be as powerful as possible in the future. I want to be able to stand toe to toe with legends like Dumbledore and Voldemort."

Immediately, the hat groaned, "Such an answer is befitting of both a Slytherin and a Ravenclaw. The thirst for knowledge would surely make Rowena proud, but you have such great ambition, not to mention the ability to achieve your goals, that Salazar would claim you for his house in an instant."

Harry smirked, happy to know he was giving the hat an interesting time.

By the time the hat decided, Harry decided that if the hat were a person, he would definitely want to be friends with it. The final remarks that the sorting hat gave him sounded like what a mentor would say to his student before saying goodbye, "Now, Harry, you must listen to me. You have the potential to achieve your goals, and just because I'm not placing you in the house of ambition does not mean you should give up those goals. I believe the house of intelligence will aid you in your way to becoming a legend, and that is truly what the wizarding world will truly need in the years to come. Good luck, Harry Potter. I expect you to visit me in the years to come. RAVENCLAW!"

Silence rang out through the great hall, but it only lasted for a second before the hat was pulled off his head and the Ravenclaw table burst out in applause, along with the Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs.

Harry composed himself, before he stood up and walked over to the table, and sat at the end of the table beside a girl who appeared to be of Indian descent who had been sorted right before him and across from a plain looking boy with brown curly hair.

The first person to introduce themselves to Harry was the boy across from him. He grinned from ear to ear, but showed slight signs of nervousness which was to be expected as he introduced himself to a "celebrity". He stood up and reached his hand across the table, and said, "Hi, I'm Anthony Goldstein! It's so nice to meet you!"

Harry gave a small, but hesitant smile. He tried not to gravitate towards overexcitable people, but he definitely didn't want to come off as rude. He took the boy's hand, and shook it. He became slightly more uncomfortable as he noticed that boy held on for just a second too long. "It's my pleasure, I'm Harry."

They both sat back down, and the girl beside Harry gave a small laugh that Harry probably wouldn't have heard if she wasn't right next to him. He looked over at her curiously and she looked a little shocked, but said, "Sorry, it's just that - well, everyone here knows who you are. Unless they're muggleborns, but even then..."

Harry shrugged, "I guess so, but it's only common courtesy to introduce myself. What's your name?"

"I'm Padma Patil," she said, looking at him with a small smile. She was clearly a little overwhelmed and Harry couldn't but hate that she had that reaction just because of his "fame". He put out his hand for her to shake it, and she accepted. He couldn't help but notice that her hand was very soft, and he blushed lightly, praying that she wouldn't notice.

Padma was very pretty. Her thick hair was very long, and was pulled back into two braids in a way that he had never seen before. He could only guess that it was a traditional style, and he thought it looked very nice. She had nice brown eyes, and a thin face, although she still had a little bit of baby fat. He could imagine that she would be very beautiful as she grew up.

After about five minutes of the three of them talking amongst themselves, the sorting had finished. After Harry, only one other person was sorted into Ravenclaw. It was a girl named Lisa Turpin, who had chestnut brown hair and striking hazel eyes. She was quieter than the other two but Harry appreciated that.

Dumbledore stood up, and immediately the great hall went silent. Some people at the Gryffindor table continued to talk, but stopped quickly when he began speaking. " I have a few start of term notices I wish to announce. First of all, I would like you all to welcome our new Defense Against the Arts teacher, Professor Quirrell."

He gestured towards a scared-looking man with a lilac turban wrapped around his head. He waved to the crowd to identify himself, and a polite amount of applause rang throughout the crowd.

"The first years please note that the dark forest is strictly forbidden to all students. Also, our caretaker, Mr. Filch has asked me to remind you that the 3rd floor corridor on the right hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a most painful death. Thank you." Dumbledore finished, and sat back down at his seat, as if he hadn't just told the student body that if they go down a certain hallway, they'll die.

Harry turned back to the table and noticed that everyone had noticed the same thing. A quick discussion about what could possibly be in that hallway ensued, and made Harry even more sure that Dumbledore wanted someone to go down that hallway, for whatever reason. If you tell a group of teenagers to not do something, chances are they're going to do it.

Suddenly, a pile of food appeared on the table. Several of the new first years gasped in surprise, which cause many of the older years to laugh. After all, they had had very similar reactions back when they had arrived at Hogwarts.

By the end of the meal, Harry had been introduced to all of the other students in his year, as well as the Ravenclaw prefects.

The other Ravenclaw boys in Harry's year were Anthony Goldstein, Michael Corner, Terry Boot, Kevin Entwhistle, and Stephen Cornfoot.

Anthony and Terry were the most friendly, in Harry's opinion. Although Terry was much more stuck up.

Terry was a half-blood with a wizard and a witch as parents who both had muggle descent. He had been raised in a middle-class environment, but Harry thought that because of Harry's celebrity status, he might feel like he needs to be better in order to get in Harry's good books.

Harry was annoyed by the whole celebrity thing, but realized that there wasn't much that he could do about it. His parents, instead of trying to shut down the fame, had encouraged it, and made their children beacons of hope for the wizarding world. He only hoped that the whole Boys-Who-Lived thing wasn't a farce.

Michael was quiet, but also very kind, and was probably Harry's favourite to be around. He was a pureblood, but wasn't nearly as stuck up as some of the ones he had seen so far. He had brown hair that was grown out just a bit too far, but it made more sense when he explained that he was trying to grow it out.

Kevin Entwhistle and Stephen Cornfoot both rubbed Harry the wrong way. They acted standoffish, and superior to Harry, even though they didn't even know him. Kevin was a muggleborn, but apparently in the muggle world he was on track to go to a very prestigious school, which made him superior to the other.

Stephen was a pureblood and proud. He claimed that his mother was a descendant to Merlin, but Harry knew it was rubbish. There were hundreds of people around Europe who claimed to be related to Merlin, but none of the claims were founded.

Their prefects, Chester Davies and Penelope Clearwater, were both very kind. Chester appeared harsh but was really quite kind. He told the first years that if any of them needed any help at all them they should come to him or Penelope.

Chester also told them that since there were 6 boys in their year, they would need to split into two groups of three for each dorm.

Kevin and Stephen immediately paired up, while Anthony quickly gravitated towards Harry. Harry quickly reached out to Michael to ask if he wanted to be with them, and he agreed, smiling. That meant that Stephen, Kevin, and Terry would be in one dorm and Michael, Anthony, and Harry would be in the other.

Harry was very happy with that arrangement.

Alex had always known he would be a Gryffindor. He was just like his father personality-wise and his father was about as Gryffindor as Gryffindor's came. But he couldn't help but be slightly disappointed.

He had the urge to be unique, he didn't want to be just like his father. He wanted to be his own person. Harry was having no trouble doing that, mostly because he was totally different from the start.

While he was overjoyed by the fact that he was in the same house as Ron, at the same time he wanted to be with his brother. But that could never happen, they were too different. Their personality traits were polar opposites.

Alex sighed, turning over in his bed and staring at the red curtains that were draped around his bed. The other boys in his dorm seemed alright.

Dean Thomas was nice, although a little on the meek side, was kind-hearted. He was becoming fast friends with Seamus, who was much more boisterous and aggressive. He had no respect for the quiet, and it showed profusely when he spoke to Neville, another boy in their year.

Alex felt very bad for Neville. He had barely even arrived and people were bullying him left and right, Seamus was one of the worst offenders in that respect.

Drifting off into sleep, Alex couldn't help but wonder what was going on with his brother.

For Alex, the next week passed by very quickly. He found all of his classes exactly how he expected, although they were definitely easier than he expected.

His parents had run him over some of the curriculum, just to make sure he wouldn't completely fail, and he realized that that was probably the reason he found it easy. He could only imagine how easily Harry was breezing through it.

Alex hadn't spoken to Harry all week, save for some short conversations, and it was bothering him quite a bit. He was incredibly surprised to notice that Harry had made friends with some of the other Ravenclaws. After some deliberation, he realized that in order to open up, you need someone to trust. Alex was one of those people, and apparently were the type of people that Harry could trust.

James and Lily had not been particularly surprised at the placement of the twins, but it was a little obvious to Alex that James wasn't super happy about Harry's placement, although he would never admit it. His father liked to act like he was perfectly fine with everything - his mother had tried to fix every biased bone in his body - but it was quite obvious that he was disappointed that Harry wasn't exactly like him.

Lily wanted to live vicariously through Harry to achieve all of her academic dreams that she never could. While she was very bright, she hadn't been quite extraordinary, and if she wanted anything, she wanted her son to be extraordinary. More than extraordinary - the best. That was why she had been thrilled at Harry's placement.

Alex knew Harry knew about this, but Harry managed to never show it. Alex had heavy expectations on his shoulders - but Harry's were even heavier. It was a scary truth, but both boys felt like they didn't have much choice about their futures.

It was an unfortunate fact that Gryffindors and Slytherins were always placed together in classes, despite a rivalry between the two. That meant that Alex shared none of his classes with his brother. Alex had hoped that they would at least share flying classes together, but it seemed like that wouldn't be the case.

So far, Professor Snape's class was by far his least favourite. He found it odd that Snape hated him because he knew that their parents were good friends, despite a rocky past between Snape and his father. Snape had immediately targeted him and asked him questions that he had no idea what the answers were, then rubbed his ignorance in his face, and taken away points. It made no sense to Alex, it was their first day of class, wasn't it his job to teach them everything from the textbook over the course of the term?

Professor McGonagall taught Transfiguration, and if he knew anything, he knew that he would be pretty good at transfiguration. After all, his father was virtually a prodigy in the art of transforming things. McGonagall awarded points to him for being the second to perform the transfiguration, with Hermione Granger, a know-it-all muggleborn, had been the first.

Most of the other classes just blurred together, but he found that he quite enjoyed Herbology and he was incredibly excited for flying classes. He was also excited to explore the wonderous castle that he was sure he would soon consider home.

Harry had been given a lot to think about his first week.

For one, why was Professor Snape acting so peculiar? Harry knew that him and his parents were friends, and were on good terms, yet he had never met him, only seen him in passing. He knew that Snape used to hate his father, but now they were on better terms.

Potions had been Harry's first class of the week, and he had been quite excited. He wanted to excel to the best of his ability. He wanted to make his mother and father proud of him, even though he would never say it out loud. He knew they expected a lot from him, and he wanted to surpass their wildest expectations. A small nagging part of his mind told him that he had already let them down by being sorted into Ravenclaw, but he knew that it was ridiculous. His mother had always secretly wanted him to go to Ravenclaw, and his father would only be slightly phased, or at least he hoped.

When Harry had gone into class, he sat next to Anthony, while Padma and Michael sat at the table in front of them. The rest of the class was pretty randomly mixed, and Harry didn't know many of them, as was to be expected.

Snape strutted in as if he owned the place, which Harry could understand. This was most definitely the place where the professor held the most superiority over.

"There will be no foolish wand waving or silly incantations in this class," The potions master began with a deep, silky drawl. "As such, I don't expect many of you to enjoy the subtle science and exact art that is potion making. However, for those select few, who possess the predisposition, I can teach you how to bewitch the mind and ensnare the senses. I can tell you how to bottle fame, brew glory and even put a stopper in death."

The moment he stopped speaking, his sharp eyes ran over the room, seemingly observing each and when he came upon Harry, he looked at him for a split second more than the others before moving on.

He went through the list of names to check if all the students were in attendance, and when he went to read Harry's name, he said, "Ah, Mr. Harry Potter... One of our new celebrities... Tell me, what would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"

Harry narrowed his eyes minutely, before firing back, "It makes a sleeping potion called the Draught of Living Death, sir."

"Hm... Where would you look if I told you to get a bezoar?" Snape's voice now held a hint of approval that did not go unnoticed by Harry.

"Well, if I were collecting ingredients to sell or provide, I would find a bezoar in the stomach of a goat. Otherwise, I would go to any store that sells potions supplies, or there's some right over... there," Harry finished by pointing a shelf in the corner.

By this point, Snape already had a favourite person in his class. It was clear to him that Harry was his mother's son. It was painfully obvious that he had her intellect and proficiency in potions. He had another question in an arsenal but decided to focus on someone who definitely wouldn't know.

"Macmillan!" He spit out, turning to the scraggly Hufflepuff. "What is the difference between Monkshood and Wolfsbane?"

The boy seemed startled, and seemed to think about it for a moment before saying, "Consistency, sir?" He had an incredibly uneasy look on his face as he looked to his friend on his right, Justin Finch-Fletchey with a look that was asking for confirmation.

"Is that a question or an answer, Macmillan?" Snape sneered. Harry could imagine that if other Slytherins were there, they would have sneered along with him.

Macmillan stuttered out, "An answer, sir."

Snape scoffed, "Five points from Hufflepuff, and ten points to Ravenclaw, Mr. Potter. At least one of you opened a book."

Anthony reached over to give him a high five right as all of the Hufflepuffs turned around to shoot him a glare. Harry hit Anthony's hand but showed no emotion on his face other than a smirk. If this was his competition at Hogwarts then this would be a breeze.

Transfiguration was not much of a challenge either. In fact, Harry found himself bored by the whole thing. Although, he did promptly decide that Professor McGonagall was his favourite professor.

The moment everyone had arrived at class on time, a cat sitting on the desk at the front jumped forward and transformed into Professor McGonagall in the matter of a second. It only took a second of shock at the sight for everyone to burst into applause, much to the happiness of the professor.

She immediately gave them an assignment; do your best to transform the matchstick in front of you into a needle.

Harry was done in less than two minutes. When McGonagall noticed that Harry wasn't doing the assignment and instead had his face in a book called ' _1000 Useful Charms to Use for Everyday Tasks'._

"Mr. Potter, is there a reason why you're not completing the assignment like the rest of the class?" McGonagall asked, pursing her lips as she looked curiously at Harry over the rims of her glasses.

Harry put his book down, and responded, "Sorry, ma'am, I already completed the assignment. That's why I was reading."

He gestured to the razor-sharp needle on the desk in front of him, and McGonagall looked shocked, but only for a split second before she picked up the needle and observed it. "Very good, Mr. Potter. 15 points to Ravenclaw. If you'd like, I can give you the homework now so you can work on it for the rest of the class."

Harry nodded, a smile on his lips, as he agreed. She wrote up the instructions on the board, before returning to Harry and saying under her breath, "Your brother also had it done quickly. You're both very promising, and I hope to see great things from you."

The words of the teacher shocked him but after a second he nodded his thanks and his teacher walked off to help Hannah Abbott, who had somehow managed to damage her desk during the transfiguration attempt.

Harry realized that he had barely even thought of his brother since school had started, and immediately felt bad for forgetting about him. He sighed as he looked down at the parchment, before starting the 10-inch assignment on how wand movements and incantation pronunciation was essential for success in learning transfigurations.

And thus marks the end of the first week at Hogwarts! Hope you guys enjoyed it, I realized that I definitely have a time of the year when I want to write way more- and it's February through March, so be expecting a lot of content!

Comments keep me motivated and constuctive criticism would definitely be appreciated! Thanks so much for reasing!


	4. Chapter 4

Harry's friendship with Hermione started in a very unconventional way.

About halfway through October, the school work was piling onto most of the students, and many students, although mostly fourth years and above, were heading to the library.

As Hermione Granger was heading to the library, she was afraid that there wouldn't be any empty tables where she could sit by herself. As she arrived, she noticed that her fear wasn't unfounded.

She looked around the library to see that it was packed to the brim, which was surprising considering how early it was in the year. Most of the students were Ravenclaws, none of which that Hermione knew, and she only saw one other first year in the whole library; Harry Potter.

Hermione knew who Harry Potter was for several reasons.

Reason one was that Harry and Alex Potter were mentioned in just about every book that covered recent history or the history of dark lords. She had read so many books that mentioned them that she felt as if she already knew them, although she would never say it out loud.

Reason two was was that Alex Potter was in her house, and he was loud, confident, and not particularly smart. He was better than some, like Ron and Seamus, but he could definitely afford to be taken down a peg or two. She had heard Alex talking about how he and Harry were both really great fliers, and she heard him bragging about how smart his brother was. Hermione wasn't so sure. After all, how smart could he be if he was the twin brother of _Alex_? He was not a name that came to mind when she thought of smart people.

Reason three was that all of the other Gryffindor girls were always talking about him or Alex. About how they were the cutest boys in the year. About how Harry was so _cool_ *insert Lavender's swoon as she held the most recent copy of Witch Weekly with Harry's face plastered over it to her chest*. Hermione hated to admit it, but even she could admit that Harry was nice to look at.

She was particularly hesitant to approach the boy, because what if he was just like his brother? There was no way they would get along, and their altercation would probably end with Hermione running out of the library because Harry had insulted her teeth.

Hermione took a deep breath in as she walked towards Harry, who was sitting alone at a table looking calm and collected while reading through a textbook, before hunching over and writing on a very long piece of parchment.

"Do you mind if I sit here?" Hermione asked, her voice squeaking slightly as she clutched her books to her chest tightly.

Harry looked up, not a hint of surprise showing on his face, as he nodded cooly. "Sure, I don't see why not."

Her eyes darted to his essay as she sat down across from him. He was working on the History of Magic essay that she had come here to start, even though it wasn't due until next week. Something inside of her lit up as the words of her housemates saying, "Why are you starting that now? It's not due for a while, you have time," rang through her head.

She looked back up to Harry, and noticed that he was looking at her curiously, and she blushed before apologizing profusely and introducing herself, "I'm Hermione Granger, it's very nice to meet you!"

Harry smiled a little bit, before reaching out a hand and saying, "Harry Potter, nice to meet you too."

She blushed, and the whole situation overwhelmed her as she began to speak quickly, "Oh, I know who you are! I'm in Gryffindor with Alex, and I must tell you, you two seem _very_ different."

"Yeah? What makes you think that?" Harry asked, cocking his head to the right in curiosity. Of course, he knew they were very different, but he found Hermione very intriguing and wanted to understand her thought process.

Hermione looked taken aback briefly as if the answer was obvious. "Well, to be frank, your brother is sort of obnoxious, and you're... not."

Harry snorted. "Oh, trust me, I know. He's always been a handful. Much like my dad - a Gryffindor through and through. Are you friends with him?"

"Not quite... In fact, his friend Ron hates me so I guess by extensions he does as well." Hermione was quieter as she said this, and seemed a little sad as she remembered the state of her friendships in her own house - which were virtually nonexistent.

To Hermione's surprise, Harry smiled. "Ron's a git, I've always hated him, and he's always hated me. I'm pretty sure the only reason he's friends with Alex, other than the fact that their personalities are completely compatible, is that we're the 'Twins-Who-Lived'."

Hermione's smile returned, happy to know that someone shared her opinion of the redhead. "So, I assume you've heard the news?"

Harry's eyebrows furrowed as he looked at her in confusion. "What do you mean, news?"

"Alex is on the quidditch team, he's a chaser," Hermione said, with an eye roll. Seeing Harry;s shock at her statement, she explained; "It happened at our last flying lesson. Neville Longbottom got into an accident on his broom - I suppose something fell out of his pocket and he broke his wrist. While Madam Hooch was showing him to the hospital wing - Neville's awful with directions - Vincent Crabbe grabbed his remembrall and Alex told him to give it to him. Crabbe refused and flew up, threatening to throw the remembrall. Alex followed him up there, and Crabbe threw it into the forest, but Alex managed to catch it before it fell. McGonagall came out and insisted that Alex come with her - and next thing everyone knew, he was the teams newest chaser."

Hermione was surprised to see Harry let out a groan at this news as he leaned back in his chair. "Bloody brilliant," Harry muttered. "As if Dad didn't already have enough reason to have a favourite, now Alex is on the goddamn quidditch team!"

Hermione looked sheepish, not really sure what to say, and Harry looked back up at her, and said, "Sorry, Hermione. It's just that my dad already wasn't super happy with me because I got sorted into Ravenclaw, and now Alex is on the quidditch team... Christmas will definitely be interesting."

Harry chuckled, before noticing that Hermione really had no clue what to say. "Any, what are you working on?"

"My history of magic essay," Hermione said, opening up her textbook and pulling out her barely started essay. "You?"

Harry threw his arms up in exasperation, "Same! Who knew there could be so many goblins with alliteration names! Do they even have last names or is it just an adjective describing them!"

Madam Pince turned her intense gaze to Harry, and barked out, "Quiet! This is a library!" As many other students shot him looks of sympathy; they knew the pain of goblin names.

Hermione and Harry made eye contact before they both burst out into a fit of laughter that they tried their best to conceal.

A week later, Harry sat at the Ravenclaw table, which was mostly empty because of the early hour. He was nibbling on some toast and reading a book called, "Defense Against the Dark Arts but with a Twist." Harry was reading this book in particular because he knew someone else would see the front cover and ask what the twist was.

The twist is that not only does the book speak about how to defend against the dark arts, but how to perform the dark arts spells. It was incredibly useful, and Harry felt that it was necessary to know how to cast dark spells as well as protect against them. The book title was purposefully confusing so that people wouldn't look they were walking around reading about the dark arts. It was unrealistically looked down even though it was just another branch of magic.

Suddenly, when Harry was deep in thought, he heard a voice behind him. "Hey, Harry."

Harry turned calmly, and let out a breath of air when he saw it was his brother. "Hey, Alex. What's up?" He knew exactly what his brother wanted. His brother wanted to talk - because ever since they had arrived at Hogwarts, Harry had avoided him. Or at least that's what Harry thought it must look like to his brother. In reality, they just didn't have any reason to come near each other, and so Harry never went looking for him.

Alex sat down next to his brother, and eyed him, concerned. "Why have you been avoiding me?"

Harry had to suppress a groan. His brother was so predictable. "I haven't been, we just haven't had much of a chance to talk since we started school. Plus, you _must_ have realized, Alex, our personalities don't exactly mesh. They never have."

The brunette eyed his brother with concern, of course, he knew that. That's why they worked so well together. "Well, yeah. But that doesn't mean that we shouldn't talk the moment we aren't forced to anymore."

Harry pursed his lips, "Alex, since we've arrived, you've become just like Ron."

Silence pierced both of their ears for a minute, and if the twins had been paying attention, they would have noticed that the very few other students in the room were listening to the brother's conversation, probably so they could sell it to the Daily Prophet. One first-year Slytherin watched on with a grin.

"What?" Alex asked, completely dumbfounded at his brother's words. He didn't see it at all. The only thing that had changed since they had arrived at Hogwarts was that he didn't hang out with Harry as much, and spent more time with Ron, which was mostly because they were able to. Before they arrived at Hogwarts, Ron and Alex were only allowed to hang out for a week or so at a time, before James and Lily said it was time for a little bit of separation.

Harry knew exactly why his parents did that - because the more time Alex spent with Ron, the more Ron rubbed off on Alex. Alex became exactly what James had been like when he was younger - a Gryffindor who believed he could do no evil, and a bully.

The eldest twin sent his brother a side-eye and knew that it would be hard to explain that to his brother. "You're a bully, Alex. Just like Ron, and Seamus."

Alex gaped as his brother nonchalantly turned back to his book. This was the first time in a very long time that Alex found himself at a loss for words. He was normally on top of everything. The only person who could have this effect on him was the person who knew him best; Harry. Alex felt a sudden surge of anger at his brother's words.

"What would you know, Harry! It's not like you ever talk to me anyway!" Alex whispered angrily, not quite at the point where his anger allowed him to announce it to the whole hall, not that it mattered. The whole hall was already listening anyway.

Harry raised an eyebrow, looking as if he didn't have a care in the world. He didn't know why he was doing this, but at least he had complete control of the situation, unlike his brother. He drawled, "I've heard stories, Alex. Hermione Granger, Neville Longbottom, even Michael Corner? You're not exactly being secretive."

Alex ran over the events in his mind.

Hermione Granger was a stuck-up know-it-all, and Alex only felt a slight twinge of guilt when he thought about how he and Ron had treated her. He had fallen among the crowd and taken to the trend of making fun of her. They hadn't been nearly as bad as people like Draco Malfoy had been to her though.

Neville Longbottom messed up everything. He had lost so many points for Gryffindor in potions, but now that he thought about it, he did as well. Except when it came to Alex, he didn't deserve the points being taken off. Neville was always afraid, and part of that was probably because of Alex. He felt much more guilt over this.

Michael Corner was a different story... Who was that?

"You're such a prat, Harry. That can hardly be called bullying." Alex crossed his arm and huffed childishly, glaring at his brother.

Harry sat up straighter, now that was intriguing. His brother was so blind that he couldn't see the fact that he was a bully? He knew his brother wasn't the brightest lightbulb in the box, but he had never thought that he was one of the dimmer ones. Until now.

"Merlin, Alex. You shove someone over in the hallway just because you think they're too shy? Someone's afraid of a professor because he basically tortures him emotionally, and you mock him? Have you no sympathy? You call a girl a know-it-all and stuck up just because they're smarter than you? Either you're dumber than I thought, or you're so insecure that you're afraid to admit it out loud." Harry spoke to his brother condescendingly, but he believed that he now understood why he was doing this-this was pent up anger.

After hearing so many stories from Hermione about what his brother had been doing, he was mad. The anger only became stronger when he saw Michael run into their dorm, looking like he was on the verge of tears. He couldn't believe that it was his brother doing it, and he couldn't see why until he looked at the one thing that was always at his brother's side; Ron Weasley.

Alex was now teeming with anger, even though he knew his brother's words were true. He hated that he was being exposed in such a manner, he would have understood if his brother had come to him and talked like a normal human being, instead of being vengeful. he wasn't sure why his brother was acting like this.

Harry turned in his seat and looked his brother dead-on as the situation heated up even more.

"You know what?" Alex started, continuing when he saw his brother raise his eyebrows in curiousity. "The only reason you're saying this is because you know Dad loves me more than you. You're a failure. You've broken the family tradition, and you aren't good enough to be on the quidditch team."

Small gasps erupted all throughout the room at the boy's words. It was shocking that Alex would speak such harsh words to the brother that he always went around praising.

Harry grit his teeth. He knew that his brother's words were true- although extremely exaggerated. He delivered a scathing reply, "And you know why you're saying that? Because you know that Mom believes that I'm the kid who is worthy of upholding her dreams of success. She knows you aren't smart enough. Quidditch doesn't matter when it comes to life, wit lasts forever, in memory or otherwise. The only reason you're giving such pitiful excuses is that you know that Mom loves me more, and you can't change that because you're _simply not good enough."_

Alex pulled out his wand and aimed it at his brother, and yelled, "Petrific Totalus!" A bright blue light flashed towards Harry before anyone could do anything, but somehow Harry reacted in time.

Harry had had his hand on his wand underneath his cloak, and he cast a non-verbal Protego, surprising everyone in the room as a first-year effortlessly cast a non-verbal second-year spell.

He stood up and brushed his robes off, before turning towards his brother, sighing, and saying, "I'm going to pretend that never happened," and walked out of the Great Hall.

About a dozen people were watching to see Alex's reaction. He stood blinking, clearly shocked, before walking out of the great hall, running a hand through his hair.

The silence continued for several seconds, before Albus Dumbledore's voice broke through the silence, "Well, that was interesting. If everyone would please return to their meals and keep this whole altercation private, it would be greatly appreciated."

On Halloween night, Harry Potter could be found sitting on the astronomy tower, which wasn't situated very far from Ravenclaw tower. The feast going on downstairs was too much for Harry to handle, especially considering that the reason most people were celebrating was because of the Dark Lord's death. Harry considered this the day that tore his own life apart.

It put Harry's life on a completely different track. If the whole ordeal hadn't happened, his parents would still be friends with Sirius Black and Remus Lupin, and his parents wouldn't have lost their innocence.

The youthful innocence that filled their parents was something that all of the professor's brought up. Not necessarily to say that they had lost their youthfulness, but before the attack, they had been happy and carefree.

Harry now feared that his parents were struggling. James had immense trouble with trying to deal with the fact that the majority of things he had been taught growing up were completely biased. It threw his world off its axis and changed James Potter- some people believed it had been for the better.

Lily, on the other hand, had dealt with anxiety and depression for years after the attack. She was unable to complete her Charms and Potions mastery, and by the time she was back to fully capable mental health, it was too late. She was suddenly a single mother dealing with two children of celebrity status, and couldn't find the time to pull herself away from her children. One of which was very prodigious even. She forced her dreams on her eldest son, and that relieved the weight on her shoulder. If she hadn't been able to do it, her son would be able to, to an even higher degree.

Lily's forcefulness on Harry had led to the boy becoming depressed as well. While Alex was allowed to go and play with the Weasleys (the only family that his parents would allow them to hang out with), Harry had to stay inside and study. Harry had never been allowed to have his own friends.

Harry's depression was revealed after two years of struggles when he had broken down in heart-wrenching sobs in his room. His mother had come in and held him, realizing what she had done to her own child, and comforted him. A mind-healer was summoned to their house, and he was quickly diagnosed, much to both of his parent's horror.

Going to Hogwarts had felt like a cure for Harry. His parents had a toxic influence on him, and so did his brother's carefree happiness. Suddenly, he had friends of his own. He found himself caring for people more than he ever had. He had found a home in Ravenclaw.

Harry's best friend was definitely Anthony Goldstein. It was impossible to hold a conversation with the boy without grinning at least once. He was constantly an optimist, and it was a breath of fresh air for the normally pessimistic pre-teen.

Padma Patil was a great listener, Harry had found. One day, after a very long day of classes, Harry and Padma were suddenly alone in the common room. Harry was overtired, and in his delirious state, he told Padma all about his family. She had comforted him as he let everything out, and they talked until they were both asleep, and the two of them were found lying on the couch the next morning. That had been a jumpstart for the Hogwarts rumour mill.

Hermione Granger had wormed her way into Harry's heart. Her competitive nature struck a chord in Harry's mind, and he found himself competing with her in every class. She was ahead in all the classes that Harry cared less about; Herbology, History of Magic, and Astronomy, while Harry was ahead in all of the others; Transfiguration, DADA, Charms, and Potions. Hearing what his brother had done to her had angered him immensely, and he found that hearing what Alex had done to Michael and Hermione had made him feel the worst.

Michael Corner came from a poor home, despite being pureblood. His family was known in the wizarding world for producing an obscene amount of squibs, and Michael had been the first wizard born in the family in thirty years. The Corners were not officially considered purebloods, despite the fact that as far as history traced it, they had never been affiliated with muggles. Legend had it that the Corners were curse, but nobody was sure whether or not that was true.

Michael had always been picked on by other wizarding children because of his family, and that made him incredibly vulnerable. He was very sensitive, and when Ron had pushed him in the hallway, and Alex had torn his book bag, Michael was distraught not only because he was hurt, but because he wasn't sure how he would explain that to his family. They couldn't afford another bag for him.

When Harry had gone upstairs to comfort Michael, Michael had explained everything. Harry had been angry that Alex had done that, and felt partially responsible, so he offered to pay for Michael's new bag. Michael was hesitant, but Harry explained that he would cover for Alex, and that was the bare minimum that he owed him. He promised Michael that he would definitely be getting an apology from his brother as well.

Harry sighed as he swung his legs back and forth, before looking over the grounds. He nearly fell off the ledge in shock (not that it wouldn't have mattered, there were charms to stop students from falling) when he saw a troll walking by the greenhouse, swinging his club around angrily.

In five seconds flat, Harry was gone from the edge of the astronomy tower.

"TROLL! THERE'S A TROLL IN THE DUNGEONS!" Quirrell shouted, shocking everyone into silence. He fidgeted under the hundreds of eyes on him, before mutter, "I thought you'd ought to know."

The moment Quirrell's body hit the ground, the hall erupted into startles shouts and shocked gasps. Dumbledore quickly silenced everyone and gave instructions for the students to return to the dorms, except for the Slytherins, who should remain in the Great Hall.

Ron Weasley was staring ahead at the food, and when Alex touched his shoulder to see if he was okay, Ron almost jumped out of his seat and said, "Hermione... Didn't Lavender say she's been in the bathroom all day after what happened after Charms?"

Alex took a deep breath, before bracing himself and making up his mind. "We have to go get her. It's our fault she's there."

Ron grimaced but nodded. The two boys walked out of the hallway with the rest of the first-year Gryffindors, before veering off and hiding behind a corner. They escaped the attention of Percy Weasley who was chastising Seamus Finnegan for suggesting that he should go fight the troll.

They ran down the hallway towards the girl's washroom, but in one of the hallways, they noticed a rancid smell. "Bloody hell!" Ron exclaimed, "What is that smell?"

Alex covered his nose with the top of his robes and said, "It's probably the troll. They're known for their smell, I think. Or at least I think I've heard that somewhere. Or maybe that was dwarves..."

The boys found their answer as the went around the next corner. There was a large ugly thing that the boys immediately assumed was the troll. It was at least ten feet tall and had a club in hand as it went down the hallway. Ron and Alex immediately backtracked and went back around the corner.

They looked at each other with wide eyes. During their fifteen seconds of trying to recover from their shock, they listened and heard a door open and close and a pair of footsteps running.

Alex hoped with all of his heart that whoever was running wasn't coming in their direction and wasn't going to catch them. He could only imagine how his mother would react if she found out about him chasing a troll.

Ron furrowed his eyebrows in thought, and they heard a door open and close again. "How far is the bathroom from here? We should try and run past while it's in that room."

Alex thought hard as he walked through the directions of Hogwarts in his mind. "It's... in this hallway... isn't it?"

Silence thrummed painfully between the two boys before they both burst into actions, and ran into the hallway. _How could we be so stupid?_ Alex thought, angry at himself for not realizing.

They ran as fast as they could towards the bathroom, but right before they reached the door, a large _BANG_ came from the bathroom, and the wall shook.

A worried glance was exchanged between the two boys and they ran into the room.

Alex was so surprised by the sight that he couldn't help but let out a, "What?"

The sight in front of them was Harry Potter, leaning against a wall. He was smirking confidently while twirling a wand in his right hand. Hermione Granger was on the ground seemingly uninjured, but looking very shocked. The weirdest thing about this image was the unconscious troll that had a thick blue substance running from its nose. It had clearly been the source of the big bang, as there was a dent on the wall where it had hit the wall, and several of the stalls had been destroyed.

Suddenly, the door opened behind them and a small gasp escaped behind them. Alex watched as Harry's cool stance tensed a little and Hermione's eyes widened.

"What in the world happened here?!" A high-pitched feminine voice with a Scottish accent exclaimed.

And that's the end of this chapter. Hope you enjoyed it! Which twin do you like more? What's your favourite part so far? Please leave a review!


	5. Chapter 5

The aftermath of the troll incident _almost_ overshadowed the hype for the next quidditch match.

Harry was already viewed as impressive, especially when compared to his brother, but this only amplified the previous hype around him, and Alex hated to admit it, but he was jealous.

His brother had single-handedly defeated a bloody mountain troll and saved a girl's life, and what had he done? Driven the girl to the location where she was almost killed. It made Alex regretful, and he promised himself that he would be better. Better than Harry.

The first quidditch game took place the weekend after Halloween, and it was two bitter rivals; Slytherin and Gryffindor. It was also the first game that Alex Potter, the youngest seeker in a century and one of the boy-who-lived, was going to play in.

That morning, Alex was a complete nervous wreck on the inside but showed none of it. He kept himself completely composed, and when he walked by his brother in the hallway, he saw Harry smile at him. _Of course_ , Alex moaned in his mind, _He would know when I'm a nervous wreck._

Harry was actually thinking that his brother was back to himself - nervous but keeping it covered with his political stance. He was happy to see the return to his normal state, and could only pray that the constant bullying would stop as well.

Alex hardly ate anything, despite Hermione - who felt no animosity to Ron and Alex after the whole troll event - badgering him about how it was important to eat to keep up his strength.

In fact, she was one of the things that surprised him most in the following week after Halloween. She actually treated Alex as if nothing had happened, and Alex began to appreciate her personality. Although she was a know-it-all, she had a kind heart - one worthy of a Gryffindor.

The other thing that surprised Alex was when, after Hermione had explained what had happened with the mountain troll (leaving out the details to do with Ron and Alex insulting her), McGonagall had taken 10 points each from Alex and Ron for not telling a teacher and running after her themselves. She also awarded Harry 50 points for bravery and an amazing display of magic for a first-year. This put Ravenclaw in first place for the house cup and put Gryffindor in third.

That had made Ron furious, and while Alex was angry over it, he didn't believe it was his brother's fault that McGonagall had taken away points from them.

Within a few days, Ron's anger towards Harry only increased as the whole school began making rumours about what had happened (none of them had been allowed to talk about it). Alex began to notice that it wasn't just anger directed towards Harry, it was intense jealousy.

That calmed down Alex quite a bit, and he realised how much of an influence Ron's words truly held over him. He decided that he would become his own person, and while he wouldn't restrict Ron from being his own person as well, he wouldn't necessarily disapprove of it either.

The Gryffindor team walked down towards the quidditch pitch and went into the change room. The whole team sat attentively as Oliver Wood delivered a heated speech, only being fired up more by the intensity of the team. His motivational speech ended with a, "LET'S WIN THIS FOR GRYFFINDOR!"

The whole team screamed back at him, and they entered the pitch, flying in formation with Lee Jordan's hilarious commentary in the background going on about how attractive Angelina Johnson is.

The game began and immediately the Chasers flew into action, acting as if they were a well-oiled machine. They had always played well together but having Alex only increased their efficiency.

Pass after pass, goal after goal, within minutes the score was 70-20 for Gryffindor, and Slytherin was beginning to get rough. Angelina had almost been hit in the head with a bludger, but narrowly avoided it when George Weasley managed to save her in the nick of time.

Alex found that quidditch was his passion. There was nothing that motivated him more, and nothing meant more to him - other than family. Working with a team was the most natural thing to Alex and he couldn't help but relax into the role of chaser.

During a time-out after Alicia Spinnet had been knocked from one Slytherin chaser to another and had been unable to regain control of her broom and had barely managed to make it to the ground intact. Although, her ankle had taken the brunt of the rough landing, and had to be replaced with reserve chaser, Katie Bell.

Their well-oiled machine was now more equivalent to a machine that functioned fairly well, but maintenance wasn't performed regularly. Alex found himself and Angelina were relying on each other more than Katie, and that made it easier for the Slytherin chasers to trap them.

The score was beginning to even out, now at 120-140 for Slytherin, before Gryffindor's saving grace appeared; Rebecca Albertson, their seeker. A fifth-year who was a below average seeker, but good enough to have made the team, mainly because they didn't have many other options.

Rebecca saw the snitch and began to fly towards it, immediately catching the attention of the Slytherin seeker, who sped off towards the snitch as well. Unfortunately, the Slytherin seeker had a much better broom than Rebecca, and was quickly able to catch up to her and surpass her.

Fear struck through Alex's heart, and he immediately turned towards the seekers, acting on complete instinct as he flew himself right towards the snitch, going straight towards where Terrence Higgs (the Slytherin seeker) would be in a few seconds.

Instead of hitting him and performing an illegal block, Alex sped up and made it so that he would miss Terrence by a hair - but scare him enough to slow him down, and give Rebecca a good chance at catching the snitch.

It worked perfectly.

Alex held himself to his broom as he sped forwards, only glancing briefly at Higgs who was glancing uneasily at Alex, unaware that Rebecca was right on his tail. Higgs backed off at the last second, and Alex continued to speed forward, getting out of Rebecca's way.

She caught the snitch ten seconds later, and roughly three-quarters of the school erupted in crazy yells of celebration - Ravenclaw partially because of Slytherin moving further away from first in the house cup, Hufflepuff partially because they always cheered for a good and clean performance, and Gryffindor partially for a phenomenal win.

However, the majority of the reason they were all cheering was for the spectacular performance of Alex Potter.

As the quidditch team landed, everyone tackle-hugged Alex and Rebecca, while the Slytherins were talking to Madam Hooch, trying to convince her that what Alex had done was a foul (oh, how the tables have turned). Although, Madam Hooch said that because Alex hadn't touched Higgs, and Higgs had backed off before the collision, nothing could be called.

When the team itself calmed down, they began to walk towards the entrance, embracing the yells and shouts of endearment from the crowd. James and Lily among the beginnings of people who were standing at the entrance.

Alex ran and hugged his parents. "Wow, Alex!" James exclaimed, looking happier than Alex had ever seen him. "That was amazing! It's been years since I've watched such a good game! That move at the end, stunning!"

While James rambled, Alex turned to Lily and she grinned, putting her hands to each side of his face and looking his face up and down as if looking for any sign of injury, before giving him another tight hug. He could hear her muttering short sentences about how scared she had been and how well he did, and Alex's heart swelled with pride.

"Hey!" Someone called out. Lily let go of Alex, and all three of them looked to see where the voice came from before James finally pointed up and saw Harry standing there at the top of the stands, his head poking over the railway. "Great job, Alex! That was brilliant! I'll be down in a-"

A jet of bright blue light came out of nowhere, and hit Harry in the back, causing him to fall from the top of the steps. Harry's face was one that displayed extreme pain, as several of his bones visibly broke in front of his family's eyes.

Too horrified to even react, the Potters watched as their son and brother fell from at least 10 metres up and landed in a crumpled heap on the ground.

Everything went silent, the previous chaos completely sated, before Lily let out a small screech and ran over to her immobile son, turning him over before recoiling in shock, not wanting to do further damage. "Someone help!" She yelled in extreme distress, "He's been hit with a bone-breaking curse!"

Alex could only watch in shock along with the majority of the school, as Professor McGonagall and Dumbledore appeared in a flash, conjuring a stretcher, and levitating Harry onto it before McGonagall walked away with the floating stretcher. Dumbledore turned to Lily and James and said, "Go to my office, I will be there soon," before going up onto the stands to find the culprit.

James Potter paced back and forth through Dumbledore's office while Lily sat in the comfortable chair in front of the headmaster's desk, drumming her fingers on her leg in worry.

"How could this have happened?" Lily asked, still in shock over the fact that not only had her son been attacked at Hogwarts, but right in front of her - and she hadn't been able to stop it. Guilt was creeping up on her relentlessly and once it took hold, it wouldn't let go easily.

Running his hands through his hair like he always did when he was stressed, he exclaimed, "How could I have let this happen. My own son... Right in front of me!"

Suddenly, the door to the office opened briskly and Dumbledore walked in, also looking stressed, and sat at his desk. He gestured for James to sit, and hesitantly, he agreed. Lily asked, "How is he?"

Dumbledore sighed, "Not good, but Poppy is sure that he will survive."

"Oh thank Merlin," Lily muttered under her breath, but instead of her husband being thankful, it just directed all of his emotions to another problem.

Leaning forward, James exclaimed, "But who was it?!"

Closing his eyes in contemplation, Dumbledore admitted, "We don't know. Nobody acted fast enough to catch whoever it was."

Lily, who was slightly angry at her husband for being not being focused on their son's health, asked, "What are his injuries?"

"I'm not sure of the complete list, but I know that he was hit with a bone breaking curse and the damage was made even worse when he fell, and it's likely that he broke a few bones from the fall as well," Dumbledore spoke tiredly. "You may go visit the hospital wing if you wish, Madam Pomfrey should be able to give you all the details."

Lily stood from her chair immediately, and James followed after a second of deliberation - he had more questions that he had a feeling he wouldn't get the answer to. But he did ask one question, "Should we tell them why?"

Dropping his head, Dumbledore was silent for a few moments, before saying, "No, I see no reason to. Their relationship is strained enough at the moment, it that information leaked, not only would the press have a field day, but it would drive the two of them even further apart."

James nodded solemnly, but left, shutting the door behind him.

Stiff and groggy. That's all Harry was feeling as he felt the darkness that enveloped his consciousness collapsing. "Ughhh," He groaned in discomfort.

"Oh, Harry!" A high-pitched feminine voice said from above him. Harry opened his eyes and found that everything was very blurry. Reaching for his glasses, Harry found that he was not in his dorm, and his glasses were nowhere to be seen (hahaha). Suddenly, Harry felt his glasses being pushed into his hand.

"What-what happened?" Harry asked, only being interrupted by his own coughing. Hermione, who was the one who had spoken earlier, handed him a glass of water and he downed it, before listening to her explanation.

Her eyes were looking everywhere but at Harry, as she said, "Well you were hit by a bone-breaking curse and you fell off the stands."

Completely shocked by her nonchalant way of saying this, he asked, "How long have I been out?" He observed that none of his limbs, and other than slight soreness, he felt alright, so he must have been out for several days.

"Er, five days," Hermione said awkwardly.

Harry gawked at her as if she were insane. "What?! Five days? What was the damage? I feel perfectly fine now!"

The silence in the hospital almost seemed deafening. Harry couldn't help but feel hurt that none of his other friends or family were there either - and it was oddly awkward with Hermione there.

Hermione nodded a few times, as if counting in her mind, and she listed, "You broke several bones just from the curse, and then you fell and had a really rough landing which made it even worse... Nobody was sure you were going to make it for a bit afterwards."

"Where's my family?" Harry asked, finally bringing up the question that Hermione was dreading.

"Um," She started, as if she wasn't sure what to say. "I think your parents had a disagreement a few days back, and they haven't been back since. And Alex is probably in class. He was here yesterday."

Harry frowned, something seemed wrong with this. His parents rarely ever had disagreements and even then, Harry felt like his mother would have still come to visit them.

"Why are you here?" Harry asked, before quickly saying, "Not that I don't appreciate it, it's just that not even Anthony and Michael are here..."

A small blushed appeared on Hermione's cheeks and she said, "Well, I was standing behind you as you fell, and oh, Harry it was so scary! I wanted to wait to make sure you were alright! And I really feel quite bad for not being able to save you after you saved me on Halloween."

Harry smiled at her, flattered that she cared, and said, "Well thank you, it really means a lot that _somebody_ was here." Swinging his legs over the side of the bed, he focused more on trying to stand without falling instead of Hermione's reaction - which was a furious blush and flustered reply saying it was nothing.

"It was more than anyone else did," He smiled softly, and Hermione smiled back, only keeping eye contact for a second before looking back at the ground. "Now, am I allowed to leave this hospital wing or what?"

A month later, rumours were still being spread around the school about Harry's attack, although nobody knew who it really was. Some theorized that it was Malfoy who cursed him, while others thought it was Ron Weasley, who infamously hated Harry. A select few were even said that Alex had paid someone to do it.

Harry thought all the rumours were completely ridiculous, although he didn't have any theories at all! There were no known people that Harry could think of that held any animosity towards him - other than Ron, but he wasn't skilled enough the cast a curse like that. Of course, a follower of Voldemort could be suspected, but there were none that Harry knew of other than Snape, and Harry trusted him fully.

His classes had been going well, very well in fact, and he was preparing for midterms with a fervour that not even other Ravenclaws could match, although Hermione was a close bet.

Harry also found that he had slowly formed his own small clique. In this group were Anthony, Michael, Padma, and Hermione, although Neville Longbottom was also slowly being brought in. Harry found that it was quite nice to have a closed group of people who didn't obsess over him or sell out his secrets. He trusted them all and felt more safe with them than he ever had with anybody else.

Midterms had been a thing only invented five years earlier at Hogwarts. They allowed the teachers to know how their students were doing - what they needed help in - and allowed them to have no homework over the holidays. Harry thought it was quite a good idea, although Alex quite disagreed.

Anything that required more studying made Alex extremely unhappy as it took away time from his beloved sport.

Speaking of Alex, Harry and him had been speaking more lately, and they had gotten over their petty feud, although it was apparent to Harry that something was off about his brother. He merely left it alone and hoped it would go away.

Their parents, however, hadn't visited after Harry woke up. In fact, Harry had only received a brief letter from his mother apologizing for not visiting (and not seeming very sincere about it) and saying that she was excited to see him at Christmas.

Harry couldn't help but feel they want to stay with his friends at school - the drama at home was not drama that he needed. But that's life when the press surrounds your life and your family doesn't know how to deal with it.

Everything flew by quickly when everyone was happy. By the time midterms came and went, Harry was feeling more confident in his grades and trusting in his friends than he had ever been.

Sitting on the train, Harry looked over the several friends that he had made over the last couple of months. They all fitted in seamlessly with each other, and they all got along for the most part - excluding the odd fight over something meaningless.

Hermione had gotten more comfortable with Harry. About halfway through November, the awkwardness between them had completely disappeared, and she stopped seeing him as a celebrity - although she would never say that the press was wrong about him.

Padma had gotten closer with Harry, and he found her to be one of the easiest people to talk to - even more so than his brother. She seemed to understand him as nobody else could.

Anthony and Michael were probably the most inseparable of them all though. The three of them stuck together through pretty much anything - despite the fact that their friendship hadn't gone through too many hardships yet. People had begun calling them the Navy Trio, and Harry wished that they had a better name.

Neville was sort of like the mould that held them all together. If anyone ever got into a fight, Neville would be there to mediate the issue and help them through it. Not to mention the fact that his being in the group saved him from countless bullies who had been insulting him for a while now.

On the train, everyone in Harry's group was going home and was going to enjoy the holidays with their families. They were all buzzing with excitement about getting to see their families again, and Harry couldn't help but feel slightly jealous.

Harry knew that his holidays wouldn't be fun. It would be awkward, drama-filled, and more than likely it would have several appearances from the press. His parents had already been ignoring him for a month - for reasons that he wasn't even sure of - and his only saving grace was the fact that he and Alex were on good terms again.

"I'm very excited to be seeing my parents again," Hermione exclaimed happily, wearing her muggle clothing. "It feels like it's been years."

Michael nodded, his foot tapping incessantly as he looked out the window, clearly wanting to know exactly how far away they were from King's Cross. Anthony grinned and reciprocated, "I know, right! It's been _forever_."

Harry laughed at his friend being overdramatic, it was typical of him. Padma gave him a curious look and asked Harry, "Are you excited to be going home, Harry?"

Thinking for a minute, Harry said, "Not particularly... The press is always a massive pain and I think something's up with my parents."

The silence after his words continued for a few seconds. The group never really spoke about Harry's fame and the issues that came with it. The reason that Harry believed they worked so well as a group in his eyes is that they all got over his fame quickly and appreciated him for him.

"Why do you think something's weird?" Neville asked, breaking the awkwardness in the compartment.

Taking a deep breath, Harry said, "Well, I haven't seen either of them since I got hit with that curse and I've only gotten one letter from my mom since, and it seemed suspicious. Plus, Hermione, when I was in the hospital you said they had a disagreement, right?"

Hermione nodded, "Yes, they did, but I only heard it from Alex because I asked him why they left. Maybe you should ask him what happened?"

Harry shook his head, as if brushing off that idea. "I'll ask him once we get back to the house, there's no point now, we're almost at King's Cross."

And as he said it, the train began to skid to a stop. Harry ran a hand through his hair as he saw the massive crowd of reporters. Everyone saw the crowd, and were stunned. Anthony, very eloquently, remarked, "Bloody hell!"

The group of friends gathered all of their things, and began walking towards the exit. Before stepping down onto the platform, Harry felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned to see all of his friends looking at him pitifully.

"Harry," Padma started. "If your family is being really annoying or something, you can come over to mine, or if that doesn't work out, I'm sure anyone here would love to have you over."

Harry smiled as he saw his friends all smile and nod, telling him that their homes were always open to him. "Thanks guys, I'll definitely reach out. Have a nice break!"

The friends said their goodbyes, and the moment Harry's foot hit the platform, he found himself surrounded by the press.

"Harry, can you answer some questions for us?" "Mr. Potter, was there really a troll at the school?" "Mr. Potter! Would you mind taking a minute to talk to us to discuss whether the rumours are true?"

Harry was incredibly overwhelmed by the numerous people swarming him, and wanted nothing more than the go back to Hogwarts and hang out with his friends, but it was too late now. Normally he would have just pushed past them indifferently, but his curiosity was peaked. He asked, "What rumours?"

"The rumours that you were attacked on school grounds," A subdued feminine voice cut out over the rest.

Surprised that the press didn't already have all the details, Harry wasn't sure what he was allowed to say and what he wasn't allowed to say. He decided to take the method that he had always taken before, and said, "Sorry, I have to find my parents."

The press were more insistent than usual, and at his statement, the swarm around him thickened, not wanting to let him leave. Harry tried to move, but found himself pretty much trapped. Normally, the press would respect his privacy, or he would have his brother to handle the situation, as he was much better with people.

Feeling trapped was not something Harry enjoyed, and he found that he was breathing much quicker and his heart felt like it was about to beat out of his chest. Right when he was about to do something rash, a yell came from outside of the crowd saying, "Please give him some space!"

Harry looked over to find Alex (somehow politely) pushing his way through the crowd. Letting out a sigh of relief as his brother reached him, Alex whispered in his ear, "Mom and Dad said to answer their questions truthfully, but if it seems like they're trying to get you to tarnish Dumbledore or Hogwarts' name, defend it."

Nodding, the brother turned to the press. Harry turned to the woman who had asked the question earlier, and saw that she was watching the brothers with rapt attention. The crowd quieted down slightly, seeing the brother's weren't doing anything or saying anything, and Alex took that as his opportunity.

"My brother and I can, and will, answer any of your questions. We just ask that you allow us to leave when we desire. Agreed?"

The crowd murmured their assent, and a man with dark gray hair began asking the first question. "Harry, is it true that you were severely hurt at the first quidditch game this year?"

Harry nodded, and said, "Yes, it's true."

"What happened?" Another person asked.

"I was hit with a bone-breaking curse and fell from the stands onto the ground. I broke several bones, but with the healing expertise of Madam Pomfrey, I was able to make a full recovery." Harry spoke diligently, surprising Alex with how wordy his answer was. Harry was infamous for giving the press a hard time with his short answers.

"Who did it?"

"The person who cast the curse wasn't found." Harry knew the moment he said this that one of them was going to twist his words to make it seem like Dumbledore was the bad guy in the situation.

He was right. The volume intensity increased tenfold, and Harry couldn't help but feel bad for the other people who were getting off the train and trying to find their parents. Harry also couldn't help but wonder where his own parents were.

A blonde woman who Harry recognised from somewhere had a devious smirk on her face as she said, "You mean Dumbledore wasn't even able to find someone who attacked one of his students on school grounds?"

"It wasn't Dumbledore's fault," Alex cut in. His rising anger was obvious to Harry, but he hid it well nonetheless. "The culprit ran immediately and Dumbledore was busy making sure Harry was still alive, and wasn't in immediate danger of dying. Harry's health was the priority in that moment, and I'm happy he chose my brother's health over finding the culprit."

"Okay, then what about the troll attack on Halloween?" The same woman asked. "What details can you give us on that?"

Alex answered again. "A troll got into the school somehow, probably from the Forbidden Forest. Nobody was hurt, and the troll was knocked unconscious before any damage could be done to any student."

A short man asked, "Then what of the rumours that it was Harry that defeated the troll and saved a girl's life?"

Harry detected the almost-imperceptible flinch from his brother, and Harry looked down in embarrassment, although he wasn't sure why he was embarrassed. Alex said, "That is true."

"How did you do it, Harry?" The woman who Harry could've sworn he knew asked, looking at him as if he was a piece of meat for them all to praise.

Trying to look anywhere but at the reporters, Harry said quietly, "I used an over-powered Bombarda to knock it into a wall and used the levitation spell to hit it over the head with it's own club."

The press was silent for a moment, before clambering over each other to ask more questions.

Alex took this as a sign to end it, and said, "We're finished for now. Thank you for your time." He established firmly that they were done for the day, before grabbing his brother's arm and dragging him away from the crowd and towards their parents.

Harry was very nervous to see his parents, and the feeling that something was off was only amplified as he saw his parent's reactions to him.

Lily hugged him, but it wasn't like she normally would. She didn't have the same fervour as Harry remembered, and it only intensified his curiosity. James nodded at Harry, but didn't even say anything, much less going for a hug. Harry was largely used to his father not treating him as warmly as Alex, but this was a bigger difference than he had ever seen.

Harry blinked as his parents and brother walked towards the floo without even saying a word, and he had a dreadful feeling that something was very off.

Realising he was lost in thought and his family was already in the floo, Harry ran over and had barely even jumped in as his father threw down the floo power and said, "Potter Manor."

The family disappeared in a green flame, leaving the large crowd of reporters to slowly drift away, leaving only one person.

Rita Skeeter was talking to her Quick Quotes Quill with a devious smirk on her face, before entering the floo herself, exclaiming, "The Daily Prophet Headquarters, Third Floor!"

The blonde woman disappeared with an evil glint on her eyes, excited to see the public's reaction to the article that she had in mind for tomorrow's paper.

Thanks so much for reading! If you wouldn't mind checking out my other stories, I would be super grateful, and if you have any constructive criticism or things that you really enjoyed, let me know! Everything is appreciated (except for straight-up hate) and keeps me motivated.

(Sorry to anyone that experienced the code glitch!)


	6. Chapter 6

Harry was finding no answers to any of the questions that his mind kept on asking.

The moment the Potter family had returned to the Manor, Lily and James had immediately walked away without speaking a word to Harry or Alex, before shutting themselves in James' office. Harry and Alex had looked at each other in confusion, before Alex went off to see his parents.

Harry went to his bedroom, dragging his things behind him as his mind milled through many possibilities, none of which made any sense. When he arrived in his room, he unpacked all of his things before laying on his bed, contemplating the whole ordeal.

Alex knocked on his father's office door, hearing the muffled voices inside quiet down, before the door opened. James was standing in the doorway.

"What's up, kiddo?" James said to his son, appearing only somewhat like his normal, carefree self. "Is there something bothering you?"

The younger Potter couldn't believe his father. Wasn't it so obvious that something was up with them? They weren't exactly being casual in their behaviour - for Christ's sake, even Lily wasn't speaking to Harry, and she tended to spend the majority of her time gushing over him.

Alex played dumb. "Well no," He murmured, "But I figured since I haven't seen you in six months... Maybe we should talk?"

James furrowed his eyebrows in concern and slight confusion, before turning to something that Alex couldn't see from behind the door, before turning back to Alex. "Yeah, sure. I'll be out in a minute, just gotta finish a quick discussion. Meet me in the lounge?"

The door shut as Alex nodded, but he only stood in front of the door briefly to hear the quietness in the room continue, although slight words could be heard but couldn't be made out. Of course his dad was smart enough to put up a muffling charm.

Alex walked to the lounge, drinking in the nostalgia of seeing his house after so many months, and ran his hand over the dozens of tomes that lined the room. They were all dusty, showing signs of neglect, and Alex chuckled at the the thought that the only reason they were dusty was because Harry hadn't been home. Harry cherished each and every one of those books - Alex wondered how he hadn't guessed that Harry was a completely obvious choice for Ravenclaw earlier?

Thinking of Harry made Alex feel indecisive. His brother had an odd affect on him, but he could only imagine that all siblings had an on-and-off relationship. Alex hated to think that there could be any animosity between him and his brother - they had always been inseparable - but now Alex saw that their personalities weren't just completely opposite, but they didn't mesh well.

Alex wasn't going to let their differences stop them from having strong bonds, however. He would always embrace his brother with open arms, no matter what. He could only hope that Harry would do the same.

Since Halloween, Alex had stopped in his bullying ways, and had separated himself from Ron - if only slightly. It was enough to completely separate himself from the bullying - although he still appreciated Ron's true Gryffindor personality and the way that Ron was loyal to a fault. Harry had obviously been happy to see that Alex had done this, and had begun talking to him much more.

Alex sat in the large chair in front of the fire, and smiled as he thought of Hogwarts. Over the months, he had formed a small group of friends that surprisingly meshed very well together.

Hermione Granger, the girl who Ron and Alex had driven into the bathroom, had forgiven them very quickly after the whole troll incident, and actually became friends with them. After getting her overbearing personality, Hermione was quite sweet and only had the best interest of everyone else in mind as she made decisions.

Alex also knew that Hermione was quite close friends with Harry, which also made sense. Alex knew that she was closer with Harry's group of Ravenclaws, and he wasn't jealous at all. Of course, it made sense that Hermione would trust them more - after all, Harry had saved her life while Alex had put her in the situation where she needed her life to be saved.

He could only hope that their friendship would continue to grow. He already found himself quite fond of her, and enjoyed the bond that was growing in between him, Hermione, and Ron.

Alex was jerked out his thoughts when his father walked into the room, seeming much more pensive compared to his usual attitude.

James sat down across from Alex, staring into the fire. "Hey, kiddo."

"Hey, dad," Alex said, looking at his father warily, not sure what the conversation they were about to have would entail.

Putting his elbows on his spread-out knees, James leaned forward and stared at his son, showing much more concentration than Alex had seen in his father in a while. "You know, I'm really sorry about me and your mother's behaviour lately. I know we've been really distant, and we've chosen a really rough time to do this - you know, with the attack and everything. Great job in that match by the way, sorry I wasn't able to tell you enough the day of. Bloody fantastic."

Snorting in amusement at how his father's concentration failed to stay on point, which was a lot closer to his father's normal behaviour than how he had been acting lately. Wanting to get to the point, Alex asked, "What was it you and mom have been talking about?"

James grimaced, and looked his son dead in the eye, but it only lasted for a second before his eyes darted back to the fire. "I'm not really sure how to say this."

His curiosity was thoroughly peaked. "Please, just get it out. I'll ask questions after."

Scrunching up his nose in contemplation, James let out a huge breath and ruffled the back of his hair, dropping his head slightly, before bringing it back up. "You're not the boy-who-lived."

"What?" Alex was completely stunned. "Explain."

James fidgeted incessantly. "Back when the attack happened, when Pettigrew sold us out and gave Voldemort out location, Voldemort came, and he was defeated, but it wasn't by you. It was by Harry."

Several questions ran through his mind, and Alex wanted to ask all of them in a huge stream, but held back. "So how did I get," Alex pulled up his shirt, gesturing to the large jagged scar stretching across his midsection, "this?"

"Voldemort came in, and supposedly hit Harry with the killing curse, and somehow, Harry's magic not only blocked it, but retaliated. His magic slashed out across the room, and that's how Voldemort was killed, and how the room was destroyed, and now you have a magical scar." James spoke seriously, more seriously than Alex had heard him, and he sounded as if he was relieving a huge weight off his shoulders."

Alex nodded, coming to accept this. He had always known that something was up with the whole 'Twins-Who-Lived' thing. After all, how could one spell hit them both? The killing curse could only hit one victim at once. He had always known that Harry was smarter than him, academically, and had more magical power than him as well.

After all, Harry's first incident of accidental magic was at the age of 3, while Alex's was at the average age of 7. Having magic before the age of 5 was almost unheard of, and only legendary wizards had ever come of the people who had such well developed magic so young. James and Lily had kept their ages of their first cases of accidental magic a secret from any prying reporters.

Alex, dwelling on it now, noticed that from the moment Harry first displayed magic, that Lily had began to raise their expectations of Harry - and as that pressure began to grow, Harry began to change. He became more closed off, less social. But Hogwarts had changed him completely, and he had become happier and had even formed his own group of friends despite the fact that he had always struggled with a lot of social interaction outside of his family before.

Only one question was nagging at his mind. "Why did you make up the fact that it was both of us?"

"We didn't want you to feel like you were inferior," James explained somberly. "We love you both equally and would hate to see one of you grow up in the shadow of the other. Now we can see that both of you have become your own person, and have become your own people. You each have your own strengths and weaknesses, and issues that will only get worse over the next few years have started popping up. We think that right now is the ideal time to tell you - and we can only hope that it will bring you together even more."

Alex smiled, and silence rested across the father and son duo. The silence was nice, not awkward, or filled with pressure. It was time that Alex needed to accept the truth, and rewire what he had been taught his whole life.

Once he had dwelled on it enough, Alex asked the question that had truly been bugging him more than anything else.

"Hey, dad?"

James turned to his son with a questioning look in his eyes.

Alex grinned, "Do you know who Nicholas Flamel is?"

Harry laid on his bed, staring at the ceiling confused. So many unanswered questions ran through his head, and yet he had nobody who was willing to answer them. His mind was going a mile a minute and yet it felt sluggish, as his mental inquiries were getting no results.

Groaning in frustration, Harry hit his hands to the mattress.

A small knock came from Harry's door. His mother's soft voice came from the other side. "Harry? Can I come in?"

Closing his eyes, Harry took a deep breath and composed himself. "Sure, come in."

Lily was looking very somber, and Harry feared that her depression had made a resurgence in his and Alex's time back at Hogwarts, and Harry took a quick glance at her wrists to gauge how severe things might have been.

Luckily, they were unscathed, and Harry looked up to the ceiling again, before swinging his legs over the edge of the bed and facing his mother. "Hey, what's been up with you and dad lately? You've both been acting really strange."

"Well, your father and I had a disagreement," Lily started.

"Yeah, I heard," Harry scoffed bitterly, ignoring the look of concern that Lily shot at him - it was very out of the norm for Harry to be so spiteful, but she understood that he had gone through a lot and had been given little to support from his parents. They had failed to provide help when he had needed it most.

"I'm sorry, we weren't there with you, Harry. We had a lot to discuss and work through, but it's finally been resolved." Lily spoke in a tone that somehow said to him that she wouldn't take any of his sass, but still showed proper remorse.

"It's... It's okay, Mom," Harry said, letting go of the anger, however small the amount, that had built up over the months of complete neglect from his parents. "Just... What did you need to tell me?"

"Well, as I was saying, your father and I had a disagreement. I wanted to tell you and your brother something, but James didn't want you to know - he didn't think you were ready. After a lot of arguing, he finally agreed with me - although he went against the opinion of someone he really trusts to see my side, which I'm very proud of him for. He's always been like that... Once he's set his loyalties, it's almost impossible to break them, no matter what." Lily dragged on wistfully, and happy look in her eyes as she smiled. It almost seemed as if she wasn't truly present in the room.

Harry pursed his lips, knowing his mother was getting off track, and asked, "Okay, okay, I get it. Now what did you agree to tell us?"

"Well, you see, Harry, you're the boy-who-lived, not Alex." Lily spoke as if she hadn't just dropped a life-changing bombshell on Harry's head.

Harry sputtered, at a complete loss for words. "Wh-what?! What do you mean?"

Shooting a look at Harry, as if to say, 'you're smarter than that', Lily said, "When Voldemort came to our house that night, you were the one who Voldemort attacked. You were the one who survived the killing curse, and it was your magic that lashed out, killing Voldemort. Alex's curse scar was created by your magic lashing out."

Throwing himself back on his bed, Harry stared at the ceiling, his mind running through many questions. Most of them, he could come to the conclusion himself. He could understand why they would lie, and why, despite the frivolity of it all, they had announced them to the public as the 'Twins-Who-Lived'. The wizarding community needed a beacon of light, and it was either both of them or neither of them. His parents could never live with themselves in they cast one of their children aside for the other.

One question, however, remained in his mind, nagging at him. "Who was it that told you not to tell us? And why would it make any sense to keep it from us at all?"

Lily smiled lightly. Of course Harry would get straight to business, skipping over any of the simpler questions that he could figure out himself.

"It was Dumbledore who told us to keep it to ourselves. Despite being hailed as a being of purity, Dumbledore is not perfect. He would twist anything if it was for his own greater good, and keeping you two in the dark would apparently have ended better for him. Perhaps it would've allowed him to better mould you two into his pawns." Lily finished with a small snarl, showing anger towards what she suspected were Dumbledore's true intentions.

Harry nodded, "Of course... It only makes sense that he would hide it from us."

Thoughts filled Harry's head, and he found the silence between himself and his mother lasting for several minutes. "Harry," Lily said, "I understand that it's been a long day, but I want you to get that this shouldn't cause any tension between you and Alex. This changes nothing."

"I get it. After all, the whole thing was probably just a fluke. How can a fifteen-month old defeat a dark lord anyway?" Harry snorted, "It's really quite ridiculous."

Lily smiled, smirking to herself knowingly, before she wished Harry a good night, and left him to his thoughts.

After a long conversation with his father about all things Hogwarts and quidditch, Alex found himself walking back to his room in thought.

He was excited to compose a letter to Hermione and Ron, telling them who Nicholas Flamel was, and what was being hidden in the school underneath the three-headed dog named Fluffy.

Alex entered his room with a grin on his face, before seeing Harry laying on his bed, staring at the ceiling, turning to see who it was before looking back to the ceiling. Harry asked, "So dad told you?"

Nodding, Alex responded, "Yeah, more or less. I suppose I don't really have to ask you if mom explained it, right?"

Harry snorted, but nodded, "Yeah... But now it has me wondering."

"About what?"

"About the possible connection that your cursed scar could have to me if it was my magic that caused it. After all, cursed scars have always been known to have some use or another." Harry spoke what was on his mind, not holding back knowing he was in the full privacy of his brother, the person he trusted most.

Alex contemplated his brother's words. "Well, if my cursed scar was caused by your magic, and you think it might mean we have some sort of... deeper connection. What does that mean about your cursed scar?"

Silence seemed to echo throughout the room, before Harry whispered, "I think that may just be the smartest conclusion you've come to in your whole entire life."

The conversation continued no further, and the brothers stayed silent. Harry laid on the bed in quiet contemplation while Alex unpacked his things and prepared for bed.

Right as Alex was about to shut the light off, he heard Harry mutter, "Merry bloody Christmas," before turning away from Alex.

With a snort, the lights turned off in the Potter bedroom and the boys fell asleep, their minds filled with questions from the many events that had happened within that day.

Waking up on the morning of Christmas Eve day had been a surprisingly pleasant experience for Harry. He found that he quite enjoyed the soft sunlight that peeked in through the curtains and pulled him out of his peaceful slumber.

Sitting up in his bed, Harry looked over to see Alex was still fast asleep in his bed, snoring quietly which made his brother smile lightly. Some things never changed...

Harry headed off to the bathroom, washing his face and brushing his teeth, before going to the kitchen. He had been used to cooking breakfast occasionally for his family, when he was in a particularly good mood.

Of course, Harry didn't realise why he was in such a good mood until his mother walked in and said, "Good morning, Harry. What has you up so early this morning? Eager for your midterms?"

Harry paused mid-pancake flip. Of course! Midterms! Today he would get the results of the tests that he had taken a little under a week ago to show how he had been progressing in all of his classes. A grin broke out on his face.

"I guess so, although, I must admit, I had completely forgotten about it!" Harry admitted, causing his mother to laugh as she combed her hair down.

Slowly but surely, the rest of the Potter family trickled out of their bedrooms within a ten minute span. Both James and Alex had entered with the same phrase, "Do I smell pancakes?"

Each time, Harry laughed and pushed a plate with a stack of pancakes their way, making him feel strangely like a mom, while his real mom was in the next room trying to fix her hair, which was being particularly stubborn today.

The whole family was soon sat along the island in their kitchen, all feasting on the pancakes Harry had made - all made with their specific preferences. Alex had chocolate chips, Lily had blueberries, and James only had maple syrup.

It was nice to know that the familiar routine that normally surrounded their family had returned, and it warmed Harry's heart. It also made Harry happy to know that Alex wasn't angry upon finding out about the whole thing from earlier in the week.

Before they knew it, an owl was pecking on the window, with two envelopes tied to it's claws. Harry tried not to show his excitement, but Alex had no such restraint as he groaned, and fell to the ground dramatically. "No! My one true fear! No..." He trailed off as he watched his mother pluck the envelopes out of the owl's grasp, pretending to die a rather dramatic death.

"Alex," Lily scolded, "Get up. You can read your results first, and we can laugh at your reactions." She handed both of her sons their envelopes.

James watched the whole ordeal with a wince of sympathy for his youngest son, as it reminded him quite a bit of himself from his younger years.

Harry read through his results with a serious, yet confident, look:

 _As given by the staff of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, here are the results of one Harry James Potter's midterm examinations._

 _Charms - O *_

 _Transfiguration - O *_

 _Potions - O **_

 _Astronomy - E_

 _History of Magic - O *_

 _Herbology - O_

 _Defence Against the Dark Arts - O **_

 _* - indicates the best score in their year for the examination_

 _** - indicates a perfect score on their examination_

Harry groaned, "Damn!"

Lily shot Harry a surprised look, and exclaimed, "Watch your language, Harry!" She walked over, and held out her hand, allowing Harry to hand it to her before reading it thoroughly, looking for the thing that had obviously displeased her son.

"What?" She asked, finding nothing wrong. "This is amazing, Harry. What's wrong with it?"

"What do you mean, 'what's wrong with it?' That Astronomy grade is what's wrong! I've got to pull it up if I want to beat Hermione for first in the year!" Harry exclaimed, clearly frazzled.

Harry muttered something about how sad it was that he was competing with a Gryffindor for first in the year.

On the other side of the spectrum, Alex laughed nervously as he rubbed the back at his head. James leaned over, and said, "Here, let me see. It can't be that bad."

As James read through Alex's report, he somehow managed to choke on his coffee.

 _As given by the staff of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, here are the results of one Alexander Charlus Potter's midterm examinations._

 _Charms - E_

 _Transfiguration - O_

 _Potions - D_

 _Astronomy - P_

 _History of Magic - P_

 _Herbology - A_

 _Defence Against the Dark Arts - O_

 _* - indicates the best score in their year for the examination_

 _** - indicates a perfect score on their examination_

Shooting his son a look of extreme amusement, James muttered, "How did you manage a dreadful in potions? You're only in your first year!"

Alex scrunched up his face, before giving an angry look and whispering, so his mother wouldn't hear him, "I swear, Snape's out to get me!"

James snorted, gaining the attention of Lily, who was preoccupied arguing with Harry about his grades. Alex gave his father a baleful glare, and James passed Alex's report to his mother.

Harry read the report over his mother's shoulder, and broke down laughing immediately. "Oh Merlin! A dreadful in potions! How do you manage, Alex?"

Lily put Alex's report down, shooting a sharp look to Harry who quickly shut up, before turning to Alex. "Other than potions and history of magic, which you _are_ going to bring up," Lily said with an intimidatingly serious glare which made Alex recoil away from her, "This is a fine report card. Outstanding in Transfiguration and DADA? Great job! Although, it seems that you're taking more after your father than me... He was always better in transfiguration while I was quite talented in charms."

The Potter matriarch almost seemed to drift off to memories of her past before turning to Harry, putting a hand on his shoulder, and looking at Alex sternly. "You both did very well, and while you both have some areas you could improve in, who doesn't?"

Alex snorted, before gesturing for his mother to pass Harry's report card over, and James and Alex looked over it together. James, once again, barely managed to not spit out his coffee, exclaimed, "Bloody brilliant, Harry! This is great!"

Harry groaned, how could they not see that his astronomy grade was simply not acceptable!

Alex laughed at the report. "How in the world do you manage?" He asked his brother. "Not only do you manage to save someone's life, but you also are unconscious for a week of the semester and you still get the best exam in... Five of seven subjects!"

Harry smirked, "I don't know, I suppose I'm just... magic."

The whole family burst out laughing, all enjoying the family banter, before being interrupted by another owl showed up at the window, pecking urgently.

"Oh no," Lily muttered, going to retrieve the owl. "We finally see the results of that interview from the other day."

She handed the owl a sickle from the small jar of change on the counter, before grabbing the paper. The rest of the family could only watch as Lily's composure deteriorated over the course of whatever the front page article was.

Finishing after about forty seconds, she handed the newspaper to James, who began to read with the twins reading from over his shoulder. The headline on the first article read:

 _POTTER TWINS ALMOST KILLED BY TROLL LET LOOSE IN HOGWARTS,_

 _Harry Potter, voted #3 heartthrob of the year by Witch Weekly, defeats full grown mountain troll in just his first year, saving a helpless girl's life!_

The second article had an equally terrible headline.

 _HARRY POTTER ALMOST KILLED IN ATTACK AT HOGWARTS_

 _Hit with a bone-breaking curse, eleven-year old Harry Potter was hit with a bone-breaking curse and fell from two stories up, almost dying! Is Dumbledore capable of keeping his students safe in his own school?_

Harry groaned, rubbing his temple, before muttering, "Merry bloody Christmas."

OoOoOoOoO

Thanks for reading! In-depth reviews are totally appreciated, and actually, the few longer reviews I got today after posting last night encouraged me to write a whole chapter in a night! Your reviews really make a difference, even if they're negative.

If you have any questions about the story or any thoughts that you don't want to post publicly, feel free to private message me! Thanks again for reading and (hopefully) reviewing!


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